


SPD: Sburb Police Department

by aradiia



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Crimes, F/F, F/M, Gen, Gun Violence, Homicide, Humanstuck, Justice, M/M, Theft, This is terrible, Violence, but i made an attempt, canon references, i dont actually know anything about police work so i apologize for inaccurate stuff, karkat language, mature language, not in chronological order though, occassional fluff, re-uploaded, troll cops?, vague mentions of sexual activity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-02-12 11:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 56,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2107764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aradiia/pseuds/aradiia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sburb City is just your average town with average people and businesses and events and whatever else. It seems pretty peaceful at first, but of course every city has its own side of criminals! Humanstuck troll cops AU with shenanigans, characters are around 20 years of age.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

     Water splashed as loud footsteps hit the wet concrete. The rain was pouring, and the night sky was filled with dark gray clouds that obstructed the view of the moon and the stars. It was about 3:00 in the morning, and not many people were outside especially because of the weather conditions.  
  
"She's heading East toward the local library! We'll need backup on 8th Avenue, I'm sending the coordinates now!"  
  
     Loud voices filled the street along with the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the Earth's surface as two police officers ran along a sidewalk. The voices began to fade as a girl wearing all black clothing, including black shades and a beanie, climbed and jumped over a gate in an alley between two buildings and escaped into a passage behind one of them.  
  
"Stop right now!"  
  
"Get on the ground and put your hands in the air!"  
  
     As the cops reached the alley, they stopped in front of the gate without the knowledge of where their criminal suspect ran to. They lost her. Again. The sound of police sirens gradually increased as three police cars stopped in front of the alley, and the officers exited their vehicles to investigate the scene and discuss the situation.

**~~~ 3 Hours Later ~~~**

    It was early in the morning, and the sky had cleared up. The gray clouds had been replaced with white clouds, and pink and orange hues covered the sky as the sun began to rise over the horizon. It shined on the side of a large apartment building that appeared to have around 16 stories, and the rays of the sun slightly illuminated an average-sized bedroom on the tenth floor. The bedroom was floored with caramel brown carpet and the walls were painted beige which gave the room a relaxing feel. It was crowded with different kinds of things; there was a dark brown dresser next to the door with a large mirror above it and scattered on the surface of the dresser were a few t-shirts, some papers and documents, a flower vase of a bundle of white lilies, a black eyeliner pencil, and a tube of red lipstick. On the opposite side of where the bedroom door is stood a black desk that supported a computer with a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse, and plugged into the computer was a flash drive and a pair of headphones. Piled on top was a small stack of various video games.  
  
     On the wall, above a flat screen television, hung a simple round clock that displayed the current time. 5:59am. It ticked silently each second as a couple lied in a large king-sized bed, asleep and partially buried under a thick, dark red, cozy blanket that topped a thinner white one. Underneath the blankets was a slightly pale boy, 20 years of age, who had light brown hair. His oval-shaped glasses lay on the nightstand on his side of the bed, which also held a lamp, his phone, a bottle of water, and two small bottles of pills. He slept soundly as his arms were wrapped around a girl laying next to him, who was about the same age as him. She had a slightly darker skin tone as well as darker brown hair that would sometimes be mistaken as black. She and the boy slept quietly as they snuggled close together when the clock struck 6:00 and a loud beeping noise from the boy's phone began to sound.  
  
_Beep! Beep! Beep!_  
  
     It was an annoying sound that consisted entirely of beeps but it worked every time in getting people to wake up. The couple chose to ignore the alarm for a minute as the boy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend a bit tighter and buried his face in her soft curly hair, letting out a tired and annoyed groan, but knowing he had to get up, he finally turned over to face the other side and reached for his phone without even opening his eyes or lifting his head. He threw his hand all over the nightstand but ended up knocking down his phone, which hit the floor. It hit the floor pretty hard as he heard the back cover and the battery fall out and hit the floor too. Instantly aggravated by what he just did, he lifted up his head and looked over the edge of the bed to see his phone on the floor and its battery and back cover lying right next to it.  
  
He let out an annoyed sigh. "Shit."  
  
     He rubbed his eyes and reached over to grab it and, turning over to lay on his back, using both of his hands, he put the battery back inside and reinserted the cover. He turned the phone on, and as soon as he saw that it wasn't broken, he put it back on the nightstand and sat up and buried his face in his hands as his arms were propped up on his bent knees. He was obviously tired and didn't want to get back up, but he knew he had to since he had to go to work that day. He worked as a police officer in the Sburb Police Department, and he's had his share of minor injuries in the past year of working there due to having to capture many dangerous criminals.  
  
Yawning, the girl next to him turned over so that she was on her back and opened her dark brown eyes to look at him. "Sollux... what was that?"  
  
"Nothing. I just... I dropped my phone again." He said with a sigh.  
  
     That's it. His name was Sollux Captor. His girlfriend's name was Aradia Megido, but he usually called her 'AA' unless something serious was happening. He had double-letter nicknames for all of his friends and acquaintances, and he had a noticeable lisp whenever he spoke. He'd always had it and was constantly made fun of for it back in elementary, middle, and high school, but Aradia always thought it was cute and her acceptance of it was one of the reasons as to why he liked her. He and Aradia lived together in their apartment for almost two years since they graduated from high school; they'd known each other since middle school and had been together for four years since their high school junior year.  
  
Aradia giggled a bit and said with a smile, "You mean you _knocked_ it down? Again?"  
  
Sollux paused a bit before saying anything and turned his head to look at her with a small embarrassed smile. "...yeah. I kinda did."  
  
"Did you remember to get a case for your phone this time?"  
  
"Fuck. No, I forgot again. I'll see if I can get one after work today."  
  
     Aradia sat up so that she could get a better look at Sollux, and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?" He looked at her, unknowing of what she was talking about. "Yeah. Why?" "You've seemed a bit more stressed than usual for the last few days. Is there something bothering you?" She asked. There was something bothering him, and he wasn't sure if he should have told her because he didn't want to worry her even more than she already was at that moment. He thought about it for a few seconds, then said, "Yeah, sort of. There's this case we've been trying to solve for the past two weeks and we don't know who the criminal is but he or she has been hurting a lot of people around our area. It's just been a pain in the ass having to work on just that one case for so long and the crimes are gradually becoming more violent." He waited a few seconds before adding, "You haven't noticed anything weird happen lately, have you?" She replied, "No, everything's been pretty much normal. I'm okay." She noticed that he looked a bit worried, so she grabbed his hand with one of her's and gave him a reassuring smile. He was still worried, but he tried to cover it up. "Are you sure you're fine?" He asked once again. She smiled wider and said, "Yeah, of course. I know how to take care of myself, thank you very much." He looked at the clock. 6:14am. He looked back at her and gave her a quick kiss and then got out of bed. "Sorry for waking you up. You can go back to sleep if you want, since you still have like an hour and 15 minutes until you actually have to get up." "It's no problem at all," she replied, "I'll just sleep and you can get ready for work."  
  
     She lied back down and covered her body from shoulder-to-toe with the blankets, and Sollux, who was wearing a gray t-shirt and long yellow pajama pants, went to grab some clothes from the dresser and he exited the room. He proceeded to fulfill his daily morning routine: to shower, eat breakfast, put on work clothes, and leave. After doing all of that, he left the apartment at precisely 7:00am. His job started at 7:30am, which was also was the time Aradia usually got up to get ready for her job as a barista at a local cafe which started at 9:00am.

**~~~ 1 Hour Later ~~~**

    It was 8:00 in the morning. Karkat Vantas and Terezi Pyrope sad next to each other in a conference room. Next to them also sat Sollux Captor, John Egbert and Rose Lalonde. Equius Zahhak, the Chief of Police, stood in front of the long table next to a large whiteboard with bagged pieces of evidence clipped to it with magnetic clips.  
  
     "As all of you may have already acknowledged in the near past, the acts of the serial killer we are still attempting to identify has grown more malevolent and gruesome. Last night, around the time of 3:00am, two police officers have chased down who we, meaning they and I, believe to be the same criminal. The officers have unfortunately lost the criminal, but they have gained a clue that could lead to their identification. This is the first time our suspect has even been seen in the act of their crimes, and not only were they seen, but their voice has been heard also. The criminal is believed to be a young female who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. She is slim and the sound of her voice indicates that she is in the 18-25 year age group. Her hair is black, straight, and long. The reason we have to believe that this criminal is the suspect we have been looking for for the past two weeks is that she killed her victims the same way as she did with the others: 8 stab wounds in the torso." He announced.  
  
The officers sitting at the table had a mixture of responses.  
  
"It's about fucking time we got a lead. This case has been a pain in the ass ever since we started investigating it!" Karkat grumbled. He was always so grumpy and shouty.  
  
"Yeah, and it's a pretty big relief that we've gotten much closer to solving it, but we only know the supect's gender, approximate height, her age, and what her hair looks like. How are we going to identify her with just that?" Sollux asked.  
  
"At least we know that, it's better than not knowing anything." was John's reply to Sollux.  
  
"Yeah," Terezi began, "not only are we closer to identifying our suspect, but we're also close to justice here! She deserves punishment for what she's done!"  
  
Staying calm, Rose turned to look at Equius and asked, "If you don't mind my asking, what were the crimes this time? What happened last night?"  
  
     Equius turned back around to face the whiteboard and pointed to each bag of evidence as he discussed it. "Our suspect broke into a large home that belonged to a wealthy family. There were two parents and 4 children. She stabbed the children's father eight times in the torso with a large knife in the living room of the house, and his wife's body, which also had eight stab wounds in the torso, was found out on the porch. All four of the children hid in their own bedrooms, so they are fine, but both of their parents were killed in the attack. The children didn't see the suspect because they were too afraid to leave their home, but they were woken up when they heard their father screaming. Judging by the locations of the bodies, the suspect originally meant to steal some valuable objects, which she got away with, but the father in the house caught her in the act so she killed him. His wife heard and tried to fight the suspect, and the suspect tried to run away from house, but she was chased after and stabbed the wife on the porch, killing her too. She then got away, caught the attention of two officers while she ran, but they lost her about ten minutes into the chase. Neighbors of the victims were questioned but there were no witnesses."  
  
Rose nodded to show her acknowledgement of the information and then added, "Perhaps we should increase patrolling in the area. It could help catch the criminal in the act, if not directly leading to the capture."  
  
     The other officers nodded in agreement. "I'll have to agree with Rose here," Sollux began with seriousness in his voice, "Aradia and I live in the area these crimes seem to be focused on and there is no fucking way I'd be okay with the criminal coming after us." Karkat added, "Exactly, and Terezi and I live in the same fucking _neighborhood_ this last crime took place in. We really should increase patrolling."  
  
     The officers began discussing the topic more when Equius interrupted. "Silence! All of you! Today, I will be recruiting volunteers from our police force to use their police cruisers to patrol the areas the crimes have been focused on. Before I call an end to this conference and leave this room, would anybody here be willing to volunteer?" The room was overcome with silence for the next minute, some of the officers silently discussing the situation, and some of them not saying anything at all. Equius then began to gather his belongings, when suddenly, some of the officers spoke up.  
  
"I volunteer! I want to help catch this criminal." John said eagerly as he raised his hand up high.  
  
"So do I." Karkat said, raising his hand too.  
  
Terezi added, "Me too!"  
  
Equius nodded in approval at the officers. "Very well. Meet me in my office in one hour."  
  
     "Wait," Karkat blurted, sounding a bit irritated. "Wait." Everyone in the room turned their heads to look at him with questioning looks on their faces. "Just why don't _you two_ volunteer to help us? There's a criminal out there killing people! We're going to need all the help we can get and you two are just sitting on your lazy asses!" He was pointing to Rose and Sollux, who everyone then turned to look at, but more curiously rather than angrily.

     "What is _so important_ that you can't help us with this?" Karkat continued. Terezi just facepalmed, embarrassed that he's making a fool of himself. "What are you two hiding?!" Annoyed at Karkat's questioning, Sollux sighed and said, "You wanna know what's _so important_ that I can't help? Aradia and I both work long hours and get home tired so we barely get to spend much time together for the majority of every week. I'd like to help you guys out and find the criminal and all, believe me, I seriously do, but honestly I'd rather stay home with Aradia and protect her as much as I can. I can't take any chances of her getting hurt since we pretty much live in the focus of the crimes." Karkat just sat silently, unable to come up with a response. Rose cleared her throat and added, "Sollux's reason is the same as mine. I'd like to assist you all, but I'd prefer to stay home and make sure nothing bad happens to Kanaya." Karkat sighed. "Right. Sorry." He looked embarrassed and Terezi looked extremely worried; she held onto Karkat's hand under the table.

After a moment, Equius began, "Very well. Assuming this conference has now finally ceased, all volunteers will report to my office at 9:00, which is in less than an hour. Meanwhile, you will all return to your normal jobs." He gathered his belongings and left the room, and so did the other officers.

**~~~**

  It was 7:00pm, and the sun began to set. It was the scheduled time for the volunteering officers to begin patrolling the designated area, and the nightly patrolling was scheduled to start at 9pm and end at 2am each night for the next week. There were a total of 9 officers, including John, Karkat, and Terezi. John had already left the station to begin his night shift, while Karkat and Terezi stood by the front door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Terezi asked, concerned.

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" Karkat seemed a bit afraid, but at the same time, he showed determination and confidence.

"I know this whole thing has been very stressful for you, I don't think that putting yourself in more danger is a good idea."

"Terezi, I need to help! I have _barely_ slept in this past _week_ because of this bag of shit and I want to catch her as soon as possible!"

Terezi just sighed. "Fine. But I'm going to be the one driving."

"Tere--"

" _I'm_ driving!"

     Accepting the fact that Terezi is going to drive, Karkat sighs and follows her out of the station and over to their cruiser in the parking lot. Terezi immediately unlocked the car and got into the front seat, and Karkat got into the passenger seat next to her. They had their guns, tasers, and pepper spray cans prepared for action, and they had their handcuffs and walkie-talkies ready. Terezi pulled out of their parking space; as their cruiser left the lot, both Karkat and Terezi looked around carefully and they got ready to make sure the criminal didn't strike again.

 


	2. Darklord Stormageddon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Terezi begin patrolling the neighborhood, when Terezi decides to go home early and have Karkat take the next day off. That next day, Aradia encounters a problem with a possible new enemy at the cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has an Aravris moment in it :3 But it's hatred rather than romance. I wouldn't call it black since this is humanstuck?

     Karkat and Terezi sat in their police cruiser, the vehicle slowly being driven around a neighborhood of apartment buildings and small houses. This particular neighborhood was a home to mostly families with lower income, and it had the most focus of the crimes committed by the mystery girl who burglarized her victims and stabbed them eight times. This was the neighborhood that Sollux and Aradia lived in, and also Gamzee Makara and Tavros Nitram.

     As the two officers looked around the neighborhood from their vehicle, Gamzee came into their sights. He was standing outside in the dark, leaning against a stop sign. He was talking to an unknown man in front of him, who soon handed a white paper bag to Gamzee. The bag seemed to be full of multiple items, and Gamzee held up his hand, which seemed to be a request for a high five. The man looked around and gave Gamzee a high five and then put something small in his own pocket. The man soon walked away and vanished behind some buildings as Gamzee set the white paper bag down on the ground next to him and took out a cigarette. It was also 1:30am, so all of this caused suspicion from Karkat and Terezi. Why would somebody stand outside like this at this time of night? What were Gamzee and the other guy trading? Terezi began driving toward Gamzee and slowed to a stop in front of him so that he was front of Karkat's window. She rolled down the window, and Karkat looked him up and down. Gamzee was wearing nothing but a large black t-shirt and a pair of purple boxers; he was in his bare feet. He was smoking his cigarette, and gave the officers a smile.

"Well hey officers," he said as he continued to lean against the stop sign. "What's all up and happenin'?"

Karkat only scowled at him in disgust. "What the fuck do you mean, _what's all up and happenin'_ , we're doing late night patrolling."

Terezi rolled her eyes. "Karkat, I think he already knows that."

     Karkat rolled his eyes and Gamzee's smile slowly faded away. "I've seen you two driving around the neighborhood like a bunch of motherfucking stalkers looking for somebody to snatch. What's up with that?" Karkat opened his mouth to speak but Terezi cut him off. "Actually, there's a serial killer on the loose and her crimes have been focused mostly on this one neighborhood so we volunteered to watch out for her each night to see if we could catch her and bring her to justice before she commits any more crimes." Gamzee smirked, interested in what Terezi was saying. "By any chance, have you seen a young, tall, slim girl with long black hair who seemed a bit suspicious to you?" Gamzee thought for a moment and replied, "I know a few girls like that but I don't think any of them have been up and killing motherfuckers these past few weeks." "Oh." Terezi nodded. Karkat sighed and looked at Gamzee. "Hey what were you just doing a few minutes ago? I saw some guy hand you a white paper bag and then you gave him a high five and he walked away. It's almost fucking 2 in the morning, what was that all about?" Gamzee began to look nervous but shrugged. "Just hanging out with one of my bros." He picked up his paper bag and held it up in front of the officers. "And by paper bag, you mean this?" He asked. "Yeah, that's it. What's in it?" Karkat replied. Gamzee shrugged. "A gift. It's not really any of your motherfucking business." He began to seem a bit protective over the bag as he lowered it. "It _is_ our business--" Karkat began, only to be interrupted by Terezi. "Karkat, there's no accurate evidence that whatever you're so suspicious of actually happened, _plus_ we have no search warrant, so we can't search his bag without his permission. Doing so would violate his Fourth Amendment Constitutional right to protection against unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures of his property." Gamzee smiled. "Exactly." Karkat sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Have a good fucking night." He rolled up his window, and Gamzee walked away toward his own home.

"What the fuck was that?!" Karkat said, turning to look at Terezi. "I had suspicions of him having just sold some kind of drug and you just _protected_ him!"

"Karkat, like I said, there's no actual proof that he sold drugs!" Terezi replied, "I mean, I believe you, but all we could actually see was some guy giving him a paper bag and then a high five, and that doesn't automatically mean it was a drug deal."

"What about the Fourth Amendment? It seemed like you didn't want him to be captured. What's with that?"

"He really does have that right to be protected from unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures. I don't know if he knew about that right, but if he did, and we went ahead and searched his bag anyway, he would sue us for violating that right and we would both lose our jobs."

"But--"

"Karkat, would you rather wait and gather enough evidence to prove what he actually did or would you risk arresting an innocent guy after violating his rights and then getting fired?"

Karkat sat silent for a moment and then sighed and looked away, embarrassed that he made yet another fool of himself. "Let's just keep driving."

"Yeah. We're going home."

Karkat looked at her, surprised. "What? No!"

     She gently pressed her foot on the gas pedal and began driving them toward their home. "Yes! I know you want to catch criminals and help solve the case we've been trying to solve since last week but you need some rest!" She said. "Do you realize how close we are to identifying this criminal? We can't give up now!" Karkat replied. Terezi just shook her head. "We're not giving up! We're finishing our job early tonight and I'm calling you in sick for tomorrow because you are _too_ stressed to be working so much. It's about time you took the day off tomorrow and slept in because I don't want you stressing yourself out even more. You need to relax, get some sleep, and pull yourself together." The car was soon filled with silence. "Fine." Karkat said. "Sorry for all the trouble I've caused, I've just been... exhausted. I'll take tomorrow off." Terezi smiled. "Good."

     The rest of the drive home was filled with silence. As their vehicle drove into their driveway next to another red car, Terezi and Karkat got out and walked into their two-story home through their front door. They walked upstairs and straight into their bedroom, and sat on the opposite sides of their bed. Facing away from each other to give each other privacy, they both changed into their pajamas. Karkat changed into a red t-shirt and long black pajama pants, and Terezi changed into a black tank top and her scalemate boxers.

     They climbed into their bed and lay down, facing each other. "Are you sure you're okay with working tomorrow while I'll just be just sitting on my lazy ass taking the day off?" Karkat said, a bit ashamed. Terezi smiled a bit. "Of course. And you're not being lazy, you're getting rest. You need to relieve stress and feel better before you go to back to work, I don't like seeing you so grumpy and upset." Karkat just shyly looked down at his pillow without responding to Terezi. She turned off her lamp, which at the time was the only light on, and then she leaned in and gave Karkat a kiss on his forehead and cuddled close to him. They then slept soundly for the rest of the night.

**~~~ The Next Day ~~~**

     It was 12:25pm, and Aradia was working at a popular cafe downtown Sburb City. Her shift would end at 5:00pm, so she was almost halfway finished with her shift. The cafe was almost completely full of customers, mostly families. Not only did the cafe serve coffee, but they also served tea and some foods like sandwiches, salads, donuts, cakes, or other pastries. Aradia wiped down the counter in front of her to remove the food crumbs and sticky hand prints that some of the customers left while paying for and receiving their food. Tavros Nitram, a friend of Aradia's, walked in through the front door which caused a small bell tied to the door knob to ring. He walked with a bit of a limp, but supported himself with a cane as his legs were paralyzed from a three-month-old injury that he is now recovering from.

Aradia looked up and smiled. "Oh hey Tavros!"

"Hey." He said, returning the smile as he made his way to the counter.

She put away the rag she cleaned the counter with and put on a pair of clear plastic gloves. "What can I get you?"

"Can I just have, uh, a grape jelly donut and a slice of chocolate and vanilla cake?" He asked.

"Of course! Just give me one minute."

     She opened up one of the display cases to grab a donut from a shelf and set it down on a small plate which she put on a food tray after closing the case. She grabbed another plate from a cupboard, walked through a door that leads into a kitchen, and then returned with a slice of cake on the plate. She set it down on the food tray next to the donut. "Would you like any drinks?" She asked.

"No thanks." Tavros replied.

"Alright, that'll be $8.50."

     Tavros handed her a few dollar bills that consisted of a 5 and three 1's, and then handed her two quarters. She opened the cash register and put in the money, and gave him a receipt. "Thanks! Have a nice day." She said. "Thanks, you too." Tavros responded. He took the receipt and his food tray and walked over to an empty booth, and waited until Gamzee walked into the cafe through the front door and sat down with him. Then they both started to eat, and had a few conversations too.

     Nepeta, who also worked at the cafe, walked into the area behind the counter from the kitchen, carrying a coffee cup with a name written on it in Sharpie. She handed the cup to Aradia, "Here's a finished order for one of the customers!" "Oh, thanks!" Aradia said. Nepeta returned to the kitchen, and Aradia read the name on the cup and smiled, successfully resisting the temptation to laugh.

     "Darklord Stormageddon?" She called out, reading the name from the coffee cup. A few customers looked up and laughed a bit, and a stranger arose from his booth. Eridan Ampora walked up to the counter. "Yeah, that's me." He said. Aradia handed him the cup. "Here you go. Enjoy!" She said. Eridan thanked her and walked back to his booth. He sat in front of Feferi Peixes, his girlfriend, and they both were eating their own slices of red velvet cake with white vanilla icing. They were dressed in expensive clothing and decorated with some expensive jewelry, of course, because they were a couple and lived together in a mansion and were very wealthy.

     Suddenly a tall girl walked through the front door of the cafe, causing the small bell to ring. Aradia noticed her and prepared to take her order. "Hi there! How can I help you?" She asked the stranger with a smile.

Vriska Serket walked over to the counter and looked at the menu board above it and then back to Aradia, keeping a straight face. "Yeah, uh, do you take coupons?"

"Yeah," Aradia replied, "do you have one?"

"Yeah." Vriska took a coupon out of her pocket and gave it to Aradia.

Aradia took the coupon and looked over it. She shook her head and offered to give it back. "Sorry, this coupon expired yesterday. You can't use it."

Vriska snatched the coupon from her hand and looked at it. "What? You have to be kidding me! This is a good deal!"

Noticing her anger, Aradia replied, "Miss, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but--"

Vriska cut her off, "Do you seriously think I have the money to pay for your expensive food here?! Why can't you accept the coupon?"

Aradia sighed. "Like I said, the coupon expired yesterday so it's not valid anymore. Unless you have another one that works for today, you can't get any discounts."

"So you can't help me out here? You idiot, it's only a coupon! Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Why are _you_ making such a big deal? And you don't have to call me names, there are young children here so I'd appreciate if you'd just watch your language."

     Vriska slammed her hands on the counter, catching the attention of almost all the customers in the room, and started talking loud enough for them to hear. "I can talk however I fucking want, so you'll just have to deal with it. And what kind of employee are you? I'm not allowed my right to free speech? I'm not allowed to save my fucking money? You have serious issues." Aradia rolled her eyes and gave Vriska an annoyed look. "I have serious issues because I refuse to accept an invalid coupon that you could have used yesterday? Yeah, says the girl insulting and yelling at someone actually trying to do something useful with their time." This made Vriska even more angry, so she snapped. "You know what? _Fuck_ you! Fuck your job, fuck this cafe, but most of all, fuck _you_!"

Aradia began to lose her patience. "If you're going to start insulting me and causing problems, then leave."

"What if I don't? What are you gonna do? Call the police? Do you really think they'd care about your problems?"

"Actually, I know a few cops so I can call them if you'd like. I'm sure they'd be _more than happy_ to do me and everyone else a favor and get you out of here. Because we all know you're the one causing problems." Aradia just smirked as Vriska seemed to have run out of comebacks and just sighed.

     "You know what? My day was shitty enough and I'm not in the mood for this. I'll just go to a cafe that's actually _decent_ enough to respect their customers. Your food is too damn expensive anyway." She quickly walked away, and loudly pushed the door open and stormed off. The door closed behind her, and the customers continue to stare at Aradia with questioning looks on their faces but she walked into the kitchen so they continued eating their meals and returned to their own conversations. Eridan, who finished his meal, got up and said "Be right back" to Feferi. He quickly left his booth and hurried out of the restaurant, leaving Feferi alone and wondering where he'd gone, but she just stayed in the booth and continued eating her meal while she waited for Eridan to return.


	3. Snitching on the Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan and Vriska discuss her incident with Aradia. Afterwards, Aradia mentions Vriska to Sollux, automatically making Vriska a suspect of being the serial killer, and this causes Vriska to consider some plans that may be dangerous to all the main characters.

     Eridan quickly left the crowded cafe and looked around for Vriska. He was surrounded by many people in the crowded street so it was a bit hard for him to spot one person, but he eventually saw her leaning against a bus stop sign next to the cafe and hurried over to her.

"Hey, what the fuck went on in there?" He asked, curiously and with a concerned look on his face.

Vriska turned around to face him. "I got into an argument, was it not loud enough for you to hear?"

"Vris, everybody in the room heard. What's your problem? You've been yellin' at people more often an honestly you seem pretty fuckin' pissed."

"Of course I'm pissed! I was..." she looked around and lowered her voice as she leaned closer to Eridan. "I was chased by two cops yesterday morning and almost got caught."

"Seriously?" Eridan said, his eyes widening with surprise. "What did you do?"

"I don't know, they saw me running and just decided to run after me. I ran across the street though so it was probably because I didn't use a stupid crosswalk. But luckily I lost them."

"Yeah."

Vriska didn't know what to say but she noticed the cup Eridan was holding and spotted a few letters written on it. "What's that say?" She pointed at the cup.

"This?" Eridan lifted the cup and turned it so the writing was revealed.

"'Darklord Stormageddon'? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Fef made me use the name in the cafe, I accidentally embarrassed her in public yesterday so the name was my punishment." Eridan rolled his eyes. "Don't ask."

"Fine." Vriska sighed.

     "So, back to you," Eridan began, "Why did you have to use a coupon to pay for food? Don't you have a ton a money already, from, you know, business?" Vriska immediately knew what he meant by business. "Yeah, I _do_ have money, but not much. It's not as easy as you think to sell multiple pounds of jewelry at once without making people suspicious. Plus I have bills to pay and they add up quickly. I'm just trying to save as much money as possible so that I can pay my bills and have enough money left over to buy food and other necessities and to pay _you_ for helping me out with some stuff." As a public transportation bus stopped by them and picked up a large group of people, the sidewalk cleared up and it was safe as only two or three people would now pass by each minute. Eridan shrugged. "At least I don't have financial problems." Vriska just rolled her eyes. Eridan finished the last of his coffee and tossed the empty cup into a trash can behind him. "So why did you lash out at that one girl behind the counter?" He asked. "I wasn't in the mood to get into an argument, and honestly I don't see what the big deal is if the coupon was expired. It's only a day late, shouldn't that be okay?" Vriska replied. Eridan shrugged. "Actually she did have a point when she said you should a used it yesterday, you had a chance an you blew it. You were the one who started the argument by callin' her names in the first place." "Oh shut up!" Vriska said. 

"Well, I gotta get back to Fef. She'll be wonderin' where I went." He said.

"Yeah, okay." Vriska said. "I should get going too."

Eridan turned around and walked back to the coffee shop.

     Vriska began to walk away, when she suddenly heard loud laughter. It sounded like some girl... a girl she didn't recognize. She stopped when she reached the other side of the street in front of the cafe and curiously turned around to see who could be laughing so loudly to stand out from the voices of the rest of the people around them, and she spotted Terezi and Sollux talking as they walked toward the cafe. They were wearing their police uniforms and were on their breaks. Vriska couldn't help but to stare at the two of them, but mostly Terezi. She seemed so familiar but she couldn't recognize her completely. But there was something about her that Vriska liked; her glasses? Her laugh? She couldn't tell. But as soon as they both walked into the cafe, Vriska considered going back in there, but she knew she'd have to face Aradia again. She began to regret starting the argument earlier, and decided to just forget about the coupon and pay full price for one of those donuts she's wanted for a while.

Vriska sighed. "I just know I'm going to regret this..."

     She checked her pocket and found out she had just enough money to pay full price for what she wanted from the cafe in the first place. Oh well, what could go wrong? At least she'd get a donut. She walked up to the building, and cautiously walked through the front door. There weren't many customers left in the cafe, so it was more quiet; quiet enough for her to listen. She saw that Terezi and Sollux were heading to the front counter, so she looked around and went to the booth that Tavros and Gamzee were still sitting in.

"Hey guys!" She said with a fake smile and she put her hands down on their table. "Mind if I join?" 

"Oh, uh," Tavros said. "Hi. And not at all."

"Welcome to the party, motherfucker." Gamzee smiled.

"Thanks." Vriska replied.

She sat down next to Tavros, and pretended to listen to her two "buddies" talk as she was actually watching and listening to Terezi, Sollux, and Aradia. She never really cared much about Gamzee or Tavros, since she's only known them for about about a week.

     "Hey guys!" Aradia said with a smile as Terezi walked up to the counter with Sollux standing next to her. "Hey." they both said in reply. "What can I get for you?" Aradia asked. Terezi crossed her arms and looked up at the menu board and thought about what she wanted. Then she looked back down at Aradia. "Could we get three strawberry jelly donuts? With sprinkles?" She asked. Aradia nodded and went to get three of those donuts. She put them on a plate and then on a tray. "Any drinks?" Terezi looked over at Sollux who shook his head, then she looked back at Aradia. "No thanks." She said. Aradia began pressing some buttons on the cash register.

"So where's Karkat today?" Aradia asked.

"He's taking the day off. He's been really stressed lately so I thought it'd be best for him to just stay home and relax. He's probably still sleeping, actually." Terezi replied.

"Yeah, and he's really determined to solve the case that we've all been focusing on. He and Terezi volunteered to do late night patrolling in our neighborhood this week since the crimes seem to be focused there." Sollux added.

"Oh," Aradia said with a hint of interest in her voice. "Are you any closer to figuring out who the criminal is?"

"Actually, yes! We recently found out that she is a tall girl around our age with long black hair." Terezi answered.

As soon as Aradia heard the description, she stopped pressing buttons to think for two or three seconds and then continued. "Huh."

Sollux noticed and grew curious and a bit concerned. He's known Aradia long enough to know when something's up, and he has a tendency to be protective over her. Not to mention, she's not that good at hiding things. "Do you know anyone like that?"

"Uh..." She finished pressing buttons on the cash register. "The donuts will be $6.00."

Terezi stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a $5 bill and a $1. She handed the money to Aradia.

Aradia put the money into the cash register and handed Terezi the receipt. "Enjoy."

"Thanks!" Terezi said. She took the food try and turned around. "You coming, Sollux?" 

"Yeah, in a minute. I'll meet you at one of the booths." Sollux replied.

Terezi shrugged and walked away to sit down at a booth while Sollux remained by the counter.

"Aradia," Knowing something was up, Sollux looked concern and he laid his hand on one of Aradia's hands which were resting on the counter. "I know something happened."

      She looked up at him and spoke a bit quieter with intentions of their conversation being private. "I've seen lots of girls who would fit the description that Terezi gave but I have had an incident with one earlier today and she just seemed a bit threatening." Sollux raised an eyebrow. "Threatening? What did she do?" He asked. "She started yelling at me and calling me names in front of everyone because I refused to accept an expired coupon that she wanted to use. I've dealt with customers with bad attitude before, but none of them have ever yelled at me or called me names. This girl may or not be your criminal, I don't know, but I just thought I'd bring her up." She replied. She wasn't and didn't sound upset, just a bit irritated just by thinking of the incident with Vriska. "Are you okay?" Sollux asked with concern in his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine," Aradia said, "and don't look now, but she's back and she's sitting in the booth with Tavros and the other guy." She hadn't met Gamzee yet, but she and Sollux both knew Tavros, so Sollux made a mental note to subtly look in Vriska's direction to see if she was still there. "Alright, thanks, that really helped. Just be careful, alright?" He said. "I will." Aradia replied, smiling a bit. He smiled back at her and turned around and went over to the booth that Terezi was sitting in, subtly looking at Vriska's booth and seeing her sitting there as he walked. He then looked away and then looked Terezi as he sat down in their booth, which wasn't close enough to Vriska's for either of them to be able to hear each other talk.

     Vriska looked away from the front counter and then looked down at the table to think. Changing her mind about buying a donut and facing Aradia again, she got up. "I gotta go guys, I have errands to run." She said. Tavros and Gamzee said their goodbyes, and Vriska left the cafe and began to walk home.


	4. 2 Druggies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Terezi discuss new criminal arrests and Karkat's mental state as they talk in their office in the police department. At the cafe, during Aradia's break, she and Feferi discuss a serious problem that could become worse sooner or later.

     "Karkat!" Terezi called as she hurried through a hallway and into a large office room in the police station. It was 8:00am. The room contained many desks that each had a computer, a phone, and some papers. Not only were there desks, but there were many other officers doing their work.

"What?" Karkat said, looking up at Terezi as she walked over to his desk to see him sitting on his chair.

"You remember how you suspected Gamzee Makara of a potential drug deal that one night while we were patrolling the neighborhood?"

"Yeah."

"It turns out you were right!"

     His eyes widened in surprise. He knew Gamzee was up to something like a drug deal but he had no idea it would actually be confirmed to be true. "Seriously?" He said, pushing himself in his office chair away from his computer. Terezi, who looked excited like she always did when a criminal was caught, nodded. "Yeah! He tried to sell cocaine to an undercover officer and she busted him right on the spot." Inarticulately, Karkat remained in his seat and let curious thoughts flow through his brain. _Who could have busted him?_ Before Karkat was able to ask, Terezi added more news.

"Not only was Gamzee caught and arrested for selling cocaine, but Tavros Nitram was also arrested for being an accessory to the crime and for having illegal narcotics in his possession. So basically, two criminals were busted at once." She stated.

"Wow. Who busted them?" Karkat asked. This question was all he could think of.

"It was Rose. She volunteered to go undercover during her shift for today, hoping she might be able to catch our main criminal, but she ended up catching Gamzee and Tavros instead."

"That's great. I mean, I'm a bit disappointed that our _main_ criminal wasn't caught, but it's really satisfying to know that I was right about Gamzee being a criminal. And his arrest leading to another, that's kind of a bonus."

"I bet." Terezi replied with a smile. She used her hand to hide a bit of her bright ginger red hair behind her ear. "So how are you feeling now that you're back at work today?"

Karkat smirked. "Actually, I feel a lot better. I managed to get a lot of sleep yesterday and I felt more relaxed and a lot less stressed when I woke up."

Terezi chuckled. "Yeah, I know. You were asleep when I left for work yesterday and you still were when I came back home. I thought you might have been in a coma! But anyway, I didn't bother to wake you up because I thought that just letting you sleep as much as you needed was best for you."

"So did you get any new leads on you-know-who?"

"Not yet. I'm sure we're getting really close though!"

"So I guess we just keep working on it then."

"Yeah. We'll find her in no time and justice will be served, don't you worry!"

**~~~ About 4 hours later ~~~**

     It was 12:30pm, and Aradia sat at one of the tables outside the cafe she worked at. She was on her break which would end in 15 minutes, and sitting across from her was Feferi Peixes.

     She and Aradia had been friends since freshman year in high school; even though Feferi used to date Sollux, she and Aradia always got along quite well and became good friends. Feferi had only been dating Sollux for a few months; they used to be friends since they first met on the first day of high school and they started dating late in their freshman year but broke up in the middle of the summer before their sophomore year. It didn't end badly though; as they were still young teenagers, they thought the feelings they had for each other were real but they couldn't really find that connection they thought they had so they both agreed that they weren't right for each other and agreed to be friends instead.

     They ended up drifting away though, as Feferi began a relationship with Eridan for the second time. She and Eridan dated for a few months in 8th grade but Feferi broke it off as they argued a lot. Eridan was very upset but once he found out that Feferi began dating Sollux, he grew jealous and of course hated Sollux's guts since then; in fact, they both hated each other since Eridan first talked to him and their hatred for each other continued to exist. But the instance he heard that Feferi and Sollux's relationship ended, Eridan pursued Feferi and apologized to her for the arguments they always had. He still had feelings for her and eventually asked if she would give him a second chance; still having feelings for Eridan, Feferi accepted and they ended up being together all throughout high school. They did continue to argue, but not as much as they did during the first time they dated.

     Shortly after ending his relationship with Feferi, Sollux began to develop romantic feelings for Aradia but didn't actually realize it until his best friend (since kindergarten) Karkat mentioned it. Sollux was of course deathly afraid to talk to Aradia about his feelings for her since they had been close friends since 6th grade and she probably only thought of him as a friend. She had always been there for him whenever he needed her, she always defended him and accepted him for who he was while almost everyone else at school tormented him for his "nerdiness" and his lisp, and she was always able to put up with his dramatic mood swings that came with his bipolar disorder; he really did like that about her and gradually began to fall for her. Surprisingly enough to him, she had romantic feelings for him too. When Sollux and Aradia first and finally confessed their feelings for each other in the most embarrassing and unexpected situation possible during their junior year in high school, they both began a relationship and had been happy with each other since then.

Surprisingly to both Eridan and Sollux, Aradia and Feferi became best friends and always hung out since they first met.

     "So what is it you needed to talk about?" Aradia asked, sipping her coffee. Feferi had asked to talk to her when Aradia's break started and she seemed nervous so Aradia immediately sensed something wrong and agreed to have a more private conversation outside in front of the cafe. "So you know how Eridan and I have been fighting about almost everything?" Feferi asked. "Yeah," Aradia replied. "Did something happen?"

"Well," Feferi began. "I feel like our relationship is heading towards it end again."

Aradia's eyes widened in concern. "What? Why? You've been together for so long!"

"I know! But not only have we been unable to get along recently, but I just found out something he's been hiding from me for years."

"What is it?"

"I don't think I can tell you here. But it's bad, and I think I want him to move out because of that and he has been pretty verbally abusive recently and I'm getting tired of dealing with him. He's starting to freak me out!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so. I don't want to put you in any kind of danger anyways."

"Well if you want my honest opinion, I think having him move out would be a good idea. If he disagrees, you could find some other place to stay. All I know is that if you feel unsafe around him, a separation would be best."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I've been planning on finding another place to stay for a bit in a few days if I can't get Eridan to move out. He doesn't really help pay the bills anyway, so I think it would make sense for him to be the one to leave. I just don't think we can be together for much longer."

"I'm sorry this isn't working out for you."

"You don't have to be. Can you come by my house tonight so we can talk more about this?"

"Of course! I'll try my best to help you out."

"Thanks. I'll see if I can text you later today."

"Alright, that sounds good."

"I have to go now, before my co-workers wonder where I am." Feferi said, getting up from her chair. She worked as a marine biologist and had a very high income, which was what made her as wealthy as she was.

"Okay. I should probably head back to work now anyways." Aradia replied, picking up her coffee cup and also getting up. "I'll see you later!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is the first chapter I've worked on since re-uploading this work! Basically I just wanted to add a minor event and introduce a major one that will most likely happen in the next chapter. Also, I wanted to provide some history on some relationships involving Feferi, Eridan, Aradia, and Sollux. I hope this chapter is enjoyable!


	5. A Huge Meth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat, Terezi, and Sollux discuss their first suspect for the case. Meanwhile, Feferi gives up on Eridan and gives him until the next week to move out. Eridan gets a call from Vriska, who suggests that they should leave town.

     Terezi sat at her desk in her small office in the police station, with a bag of cherry-flavored Twizzlers in her hand. Next to her computer lie an empty bag of potato chips, surrounded by numerous crumbs; half the keys on the keyboard in front of her were topped with greasy fingerprints. She threw her head back cackling, her loud laughter filling the office as she watched the stupidest yet funniest cases on some of the episodes of Judge Judy.

Suddenly the door to her office opened up, and Karkat stood in the doorway. "Terezi, what the fuck are you laughing so hard about? Shouldn't you be working?"

Terezi immediately stopped laughing and quickly closed a tab on her computer. "Of course I'm working! I'm just laughing at how stupid some criminals could be."

     "Oh." Karkat could understand, as he had arrested some stupid people before. "Yeah, I guess there are a whole bunch of complete fuck-ups out there. But do you think you could keep it down a bit? Sollux is in another one of his shitty moods again because his computer crashed while he was in the middle of doing some stupid coding shit this morning and he wouldn't shut the fuck up about how the noise around him kept him from being able to concentrate on his work. Of course I'm the one he had to complain to."

"Oh the irony!" Terezi replied.

"What?"

"You'd think a computer genius like him would know how to take care of his own computer."

 Karkat shrugged.

     "I heard that." Sollux said as he walked into the doorway next to Karkat. "You know, I don't pay all of my attention to predict every single time my computer fucking crashes." Karkat turned around. "What the fuck are you doing here? I already told you I'd ask Terezi to be quiet, I don't need your help." Sollux sighed in irritation. "Who said I was here for that?" Karkat shrugged and said, "Why else would you be here?" "Oh I don't know, maybe something work-related?" Sollux replied with sarcasm.

     He walked past Karkat and towards Terezi's desk, stopping just a few feet away. "Have you-- wait, where did you get all that candy?" Terezi raised her hand and used her thumb to point to the direction behind her, even though there was a wall right there. "From the vending machine in the kitchen." She replied. "It was fixed this morning." Sollux crossed his arms and said, "It's about fucking time. But do you really need that much though? There are crumbs and wrappers all over the papers on your desk and your computer, you're making a huge mess."

"A what?" Karkat and Terezi said in unison.

"A mess." Sollux repeated. With his lisp, it of course sounded like he said something else.

"A meth?" Karkat asked, Terezi giggling silently.

     Sollux threw his hand over his forehead. "Fuck you guys, you know what I mean." Terezi rested her chin on her hand, her arm propped up on her desk to show she was getting bored. "We were just messing with you," She said with a smirk. "And since when do you care about messes? Don't you make enough messes in your own apartment?" "Yeah, sometimes. But AA usually keeps our apartment clean." Sollux replied.

     "Wait," Karkat interrupted. "So you're meaning to tell us that you make your girlfriend clean up all your messes for you? You're an even lazier sack of shit then ever before." "Says the guy who does nothing at home but watch romcoms and read cheesy novels." Terezi butted in, Karkat sighing. "I don't make her do anything!" Sollux replied, quickly turning around to face Karkat. "She likes to keep the place organized, it's just something she does. And I admit that she does clean most of the messes I leave but I don't ask her to do it."

"Have you ever thought about helping her or actually just cleaning your own messes yourself? She's not a maid."

"I know she isn't. Can we just change the topic? I have work to do." Sollux said, turning around to face Terezi again.

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

     "So what do you need from me?" Terezi asked, putting down her bag of Twizzlers as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs on top of her desk. "I wanted to know if you've interrogated those two guys that were just arrested. Gamzee and Tavros were their names, right?" Sollux asked. "Yes, and yes. Unfortunately they don't know anything about the chain of the murders we're trying to solve. I even used my awesome interrogation skills to make them tell the truth and I managed to scare Tavros into wetting himself but it turned out pointless since they actually aren't affiliated." Terezi explained.

"Shit," Karkat said. "That's just great. We're going nowhere with this case!"

     "Karkat, be patient! There have been cases that haven't been solved for decades but the majority ended up being solved in the end anyway. I'm pretty sure we'll solve this one." Terezi pointed out. "Besides, I know someone who has some information that could help us take another step forward!" "And who might that be?" Karkat asked. "The lazy sack of shit standing in front of you." Terezi replied, putting air quotes around "lazy sack of shit".

Karkat leaned against the frame of the doorway, eager to listen as Sollux turned around to face him.

"Two days ago, while you were taking the day off, TZ and I went to the cafe we normally hang out at during our breaks. AA told me that she encountered some jackass that day who seems to perfectly fit the description we have for our criminal." Sollux explained.

     "So you're saying we finally have a legitimate suspect?" Karkat asked, uncrossing his arms and straightening his posture as he became curious and hopeful. "Yeah. Her name is Vriska Serket. I don't think AA knows who she is but I recognized her from high school." Sollux answered. "Isn't she that one girl who was blind in one eye and had a prosthetic arm and always pushed around that guy in a wheelchair?" Karkat responded, receiving a nod from Sollux. "God, she was so fucking annoying."

"Anyways," Karkat began. "Why did you wait until just now to tell me?"

"I thought TZ already told you." Sollux replied.

"Nope!" Terezi responded, removing her legs from the surface of her desk and leaning forward in her chair.

"Why the fuck--?"

"Oh please!" Terezi interrupted Karkat. "It's fun to mess with you sometimes."

**~~~**

"Fef, what the fuck?!" Eridan burst out, standing up from the fine purple sofa he originally sat in.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Feferi responded in a harsh tone as she paced back and forth in the same room.

     She and Eridan then stood in the main room of their vast, luxurious estate. Feferi had taken that day off from her work as a marine biologist and decided to spend it discussing with Eridan his residence in her home and the plans she had been making for the future of their relationship. The two had recently been fighting since Eridan suddenly displayed a shorter temper and left the property more often than usual, and especially since Feferi found out about the secret Eridan had been keeping from her for a long time.

"You don't need to repeat yourself, I heard you, but why the fuck are you kickin' me out?" Eridan responded. 

"I'm getting sick and tired of putting up with you, it's like you're not even trying to help our relationship work out. You've been acting annoyed and rude and stuck-up and have been leaving home more often to do God knows what!"

"I know you're angry an all, but I haven't even done anythin' that bad!"

"That bad? Eridan. You are a _criminal_ _._ "

"I know that, but you can't just kick me out on the streets like I don't fuckin' belong here, this is our house, not just yours!"

" _Our_ house? Are you saying that you help pay the bills? Do you buy the groceries and furniture and pay for our insurance?"

"No, but the chances of me gettin' caught are incredibly low. I know what I'm doin' an how to cover my tracks, I'm not an imbecile who just goes out an fucks everythin' up."

"I don't care what the chances are, I'm sick of this! I want you out of this house by next week!"

"You can't do that!"

"I can, and I will. The decision is final." With that, Feferi turned around and walked away.

     Eridan stood speechless, watching as she disappeared into another room. Obviously he was angry that he was being kicked out, but he had no idea if she ended their relationship too. It was probably safe to assume that she surely wanted to break up with him.

     When his cell phone started to ring, he removed it from his pocket and checked the caller ID. Oh of course it was her. Who else would it be? He answered the call and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Vris? What do you want?"

"I'm not leavin' town, you can forget about takin' me with you." 

"Who do you think you're tryin' to fool?"

"Fuck, seriously?"

"Alright, fine. But give me 'til tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to upload! I've been suffering writer's block for an incredibly long time. I have the ending planning out for this fanfic but I want it to have at least 10 chapters so I have to include more stuff in between! Unfortunately, I don't have many ideas for what to include. I've been thinking of writing a few flashbacks for the starts of some relationships or maybe writing about some of the other relationships I haven't written that much about such as how Sollux and Aradia first became a thing in high school or maybe write about Sollux and Eridan's current rivalry or form a relationship between Vriska and Terezi? You're welcome to leave some ideas in the comments! Again, I apologize for taking so long on uploading this chapter. You should probably expect me to take a while on the other chapters as well. But I do hope that this one was enjoyable! uvu


	6. Together as Outlaws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan goes to Vriska to discuss his living situation and Vriska makes a decision to help him out.

     It was the middle of Thursday. Finally, the week was almost over. The next day would be Friday, and most people will get to sleep in. No need to wake up so early the next morning, no need to work; it was that wonderful period of relaxation called the weekend. 

Well, not everybody would find their weekend as wondeful. 

     Eridan Ampora walked up to the front porch of a friend's house. Except they weren't exactly friends, but business partners. Eridan Ampora walked up to the front porch of a business partner's house. It was a fairly large building, one that would be considered of high class by most people, but it didn't exactly tickle his fancy. After living in the lap of luxury since the day he was born, it took a lot to impress him. But considering the fact that he was being kicked out of his own home by his girlfriend, who he admitted mostly supported the household, he figured this house would be better to stay in rather than a small one full of residents with no taste in fashion or decor. 

     He knocked on the white, wooden door, and was surrounded by silence. He waited for a few minutes and then knocked again; except that time, it was a bit louder. He heard a faint thump from inside and then a female voice say "fuck!". Surely the person he was visiting wasn't in such a good mood. A click was audible and then the door swung open, revealing the one and only Vriska Serket standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and leaning against the frame.

"What took you so long to get here?" She snapped.

"I received another earful a yellin' again and had to get my shit together. An by that I mean I had to pack my bags because Fef is fuckin' kickin' me out a our home." Eridan replied.

"What, did you accidentally pour coffee on her expensive outfit again?" Vriska teased.

"How the fuck did you know about that?"

"I have my ways of finding things out. I couldn't help but to keep wondering why she made you identify with 'Darklord Stormageddon' that one day at the cafe."

"Don't remind me."

"So why is she kicking you out?"

"Well if it's that important to you, she's kickin' me out because she found out about our little business."

     "Seriously?" Vriska said, widening her eyes in surprise. She lowered her arms to her sides as she centered her balance. "You're joking, right?" Eridan rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not jokin' nor do I even find any bit a humor in this situation. An if you really think I'm that immature, you must be senseless." He replied. "Says the guy who failed to keep his secret." Vriska mumbled.

"Anyways, why did you want to see me?" 

     "Uh," Eridan crossed his arms and looked down for a second before looking back up. "This might sound really stupid but I need a place to stay an I was considerin' comin' to you." Vriska raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Me?" 

"Did I fuckin' stutter?" 

"I heard you, dipshit. But why do you want to stay with me? Isn't there somebody else you'd rather bother?" 

"No, actually, there isn't. We're both tryin' to hide from the police now an we work together so I figured that stayin' with you would be the best a my options." 

     Vriska sighed and thought for a moment. "Fine." She announced. "But if you fuck anything up, you're in huuuuuuuuge trouble." Eridan responded with, "You think I'll be the one to fuck somethin' up? You dragged me into your conundrums in the first place, don't start blamin' your failures on me."

  "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the fact that I'm letting you stay here." Vriska said, lifting a hand to point behind her using her thumb toward the inside of her house. Eridan badly wanted to tell her off about how ridiculous he thought she was being, but he thought it'd be best not to so he wouldn't end up homeless. There was nothing more embarrassing for him than to be seen living on the streets after being known as one of the wealthiest residents in the city. He opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it. And with that, Vriska smirked and invited him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm surprised by how quickly I managed to get inspiration to write this chapter! Anyways, sorry for making this one a bit short. I wanted to just get it done and posted, but I'll add some more to the next chapter! I'm trying to make my fanfic at least 10 chapters long so you may want to expect a few shorter chapters.


	7. Hit n' Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While John is already absent from the conference room in the station, Sollux receives some bad news of his own regarding someone important to him.

     The sound of police sirens, screeching tires, and loud car horns filled the busy highway as a group of four police cars chased after a black Mercedes-Benz with dark tinted windows. It was about 8:30 in the morning, and the highway had a large number of speeding vehicles (most of which were not over the speed limit) travelling down the packed road. Car accidents were very common on this one highway so navigating through the street quickly without crashing into anyone would be very difficult for the police especially during the day.

     The expensive black car, which was obviously involved in a high-speed police chase, swerved around many other cars and honked it's horn to get the vehicles in front to get out of the way. As it progressed toward an intersection, an ambulance was seen driving the opposite direction of the criminal. As this particular criminal raced down the road and approached the four-way intersection, the street light turned red and cars from left and right began to cross. The mystery felon knew they had to escape the police, so they had no choice but to drive right through the cars crossing and hope they didn't crash into any of them.

     It didn't go exactly as planned, though. As they (the criminal) sped into the middle of the intersection, a cheaper looking white car was crossing and the criminal's car suddenly hit the back of the white one and it was immediately pushed out of the way. The criminal was able to continue driving and dodge the other crossing vehicles as they didn't even bother to look back at the car they crashed into. As they continued and left the intersection, they heard tires screeching behind them and then a loud crash. Perhaps they lost the police? They didn't. They were still able to hear the police sirens but they began to fade away as the criminal slammed their foot on the gas pedal, increasing the speed of their vehicle, and finally getting away as the police sirens were no longer audible.

 

* * *

 

     "Alright guys, I know we're all a bit tired but let's all wake the fuck up. I was informed that there was another murder last night and this one just brought us all another step closer to finally finding out who this asswipe is so lets be thankful _we're_ the ones chosen to handle this case. And I think you all know who the I'm talking about." Karkat announced after walking into the conference room. He called for a meeting with his close co-workers; in this case, they would be John, Rose, Sollux, and Terezi, except John wasn't present in the room. "Now before I start explaining this new crime scene, where is John?"

     "There was a high-speed police chase just this morning, John and I were participating in it. Unfortunately, the criminal we were trying to capture was armed and shot John inside our vehicle as he was making a turn. John is in the hospital right now in stable condition but I'm afraid he won't be at work for at least one week." Rose explained.

"Well shit." Karkat sighed. He responded sincerely, "That sucks for him. How is he?"

     "Like I said, he is in stable condition. But if you're looking for more details, all I can say for now is that he was shot in the shoulder and lost a lot of blood since a major artery was hit. The doctors are taking care of that though and they are highly confident that John would be fine when I spoke with them in the emergency room." John had been one of Rose's best friends since they were both very young, so she held a lot of concern for him.

"That's good. I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's really important to our team so I hope he can get back on his feet soon."

     "So what about this new murder brought us closer to justice?" Terezi asked with curiosity in her voice. "I'm _dying_ to know." Rose smirked a bit and Sollux facepalmed. "Seriously, Terezi? You had to make that pun at a time like this?" Karkat scolded. Terezi responded with a smirk that showed she didn't regret what she said.

"I have to admit, that was pretty good." Rose stated, receiving a fist bump from Terezi afterwards.

     Karkat sighed. "Whatever. Back to the topic. Anyway, our murder was pretty much exactly the same as all the other ones. The victim was stabbed 8 times and he was brutally beaten. This was on a vacant children's playground during the night. But the thing is, not only was he stabbed and beaten, he was also shot once in the head and his belongings were still with him. So this means that for whatever reason, he wasn't robbed this time and a gun was used for some unknown reason. This may indicate the victim survived the 8 stabs to the torso and the murderer just wanted to finish him off or this was a personal matter and he had no interest in robbing him. Either way, there was a fingerprint left on the victim's watch, so once we find out who they belong to, we can get even closer to finding out who this fucker is and we can work on something else for once. But the problem is that the fingerprint is slightly smeared so it may be more difficult and will take more time to accurately analyze."

     "Wait, how do you know this crime wasn't committed by somebody else to mimic the ones we've been dealing with? These chains of murders have been all over the news, anybody with intentions of killing someone could easily just kill them the same way as the main killer we're looking for to cover for them or something." Sollux pointed out.

"I don't know, but at least give me credit for fucking trying here!" Karkat snapped.

Sollux sighed. "Fine. But if we end up catching this person and they're not the one we've been looking for all this time, don't say I didn't warn you."

"No promises." Karkat responded. "Anyways, I'm starving. I'm going to get a snack."

As Karkat walked out of the room, Terezi shook her head in disappointment. "I think that dummy forgot to have breakfast again this morning."

Rose furrowed her brow and looked to Terezi. "How does one forget to eat breakfast, assuming he wasn't in a hurry?"

Terezi shrugged. "He probably had a lot on his mind like he usually does. If I have to remind him every morning to eat as if I were his mother, we're going to have problems."

     And with that, Rose snickered. The rest of the group began to chat and had a free conversation while Karkat was gone. After five minutes passed, he finally appeared in the doorway with a granola bar and some chocolate bars in his hand and a water bottle in the other. "Geez, Karkat, what took you so long?" Terezi asked with a grin. "Did you forget how the vending machine works?"

"What?" Karkat asked, squinting his eyes in confusion.

"If you need technical support, you do realize we have Sollux right here, right?" Terezi pointed to Sollux.

     "TZ, I work with computers, not vending machines." Sollux responded. "We've known each other since the beginning of high school and I'm honestly surprised you haven't known that until now."

"Uh, guys--" Karkat began, but was interrupted by a giggle.

"You thought I was serious?" Terezi said.

"I was hoping you weren't, but by the tone of your voice, yeah, you seemed pretty serious."

"Jesus fuck." Karkat mumbled. "Could you guys listen?"

Obviously not listening, Terezi responded to Sollux, "I don't know what you heard but to my understanding I sounded like I was clearly joking."

"Guys, maybe you should listen to Karkat. He seems to have urgent news." Rose interrupted.

"Thank you, Rose." Karkat said, receiving a nod from her in response. "And Sollux, you of all people should really know this." 

Both Terezi and Sollux stopped their conversation and turned their attention to Karkat. 

     "What's so important?" Sollux asked, both curious and a bit disappointed. He expected to get another order to research or track down some criminal or to fix some technical issues since he was one of the best with computers in the building, but the news he actually got were nowhere near as close as what he thought. 

     At first Karkat hesitated, but with all seriousness in his voice, he let it out. "Your cell phone was ringing on your desk as I passed by and I answered it, and it was the community hospital. They said that Aradia was checked into the emergency room." 

     The room went quiet. Sollux's heart dropped; there was absolutely no way he could believe Karkat was telling the truth. After a few seconds of silence, he finally replied, "What?" 

"The hospital--" 

     "I heard what you said. But is that a fucking joke? Because if it is, it's not funny!" Sollux said, putting his hands on the table as he stood up from his chair. 

     "Did it sound like I was joking? I don't go around telling my best friends that their significant others are probably dying in the hospital as a joke." Karkat said. 

     Dying? Oh hell no. Sollux began to feel his heart practically pounding its way out of his chest, his head filling with worry and panic. "What else did the hospital say? What happened to Aradia, is she okay?" 

"They said she was in a fatal car accident and that she's in critical but stable condition. They wouldn't tell me anything more." Karkat replied. 

Rose raised her eyebrows. 

     "Fuck. That's good that she's alive, but..." Sollux ran his hands through his hair anxiously, and then dropped them as he made his way toward the room's exit in a hurry. "I have to go see her!" 

     "Sollux I understand what you're going through but you can't just leave the--" Karkat warned, but was interrupted once again. 

"I don't give a fuck! Getting a stupid lecture from the sweaty asswipe we work for is the least of my problems at this point!" 

And with that, Sollux disappeared from the room, shutting the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the only fanfic where Aradia doesn't end up dying! I hate it when theres a fanfic with Arasol in it and then Aradia ends up dying because all it is is sadness and it just sinks the ship. Anyways, I decided to have some things happen to John and Aradia to give them a bit more focus in the story. Also, the fact that they both were severely injured could be references to their deaths in a way (John being killed by Jack Noir and Aradia being killed by Sollux, except neither of them were hurt by those characters in this story) while the fact that they are still alive and recover in the hospital refers to the fact that were both god tiers in canon and in this story were "restored" to health as a god tier would come back to life. I know, stupid comparisons, but I tried. Anyways, expect some more shit to go down, and maybe some sad moments too! I apologize I'm not that good at portraying the characters, so advice and corrections would be appreciated. Thank you for reading up to here! I really appreciate you taking the time! :)


	8. Fake Married

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat continues to worry about his friends and Rose and Terezi try to assure him that everything will turn out okay. Meanwhile, Sollux rushes to the hospital to see Aradia.

     Karkat, Terezi, and Rose were left with silence in the room. "Well," Karkat began, crossing his arms. "Now two of us are gone from the meeting and two of our friends are probably going to die. That's just fucking great."

     "I'm sure they aren't going to die." Rose reassured. "We know that John is in stable condition, and so is Aradia. They're in the good hands of medical professionals who I'm sure know what they're doing. As long as we keep a positive mindset, everything will be alright."

     "Keep a positive mindset, my ass," Karkat replied. "Just being positive doesn't make anything actually happen. And we don't even know exactly how bad Aradia's condition is; obviously Sollux cares about her a lot. If she's worse than we think, he will barely be able to work if all he could do is worry and we definitely need him on the team."

     Terezi shook her head. "Karkat, whining about this whole situation isn't going to bring us any closer to finding the criminal. Besides, I think listening to Rose and thinking positively would at least help us feel a bit better."

     "If you want, Terezi and I could go investigate the crime scene once more to see if we could find any new clues we may have missed the first time. Then at least we would be working on something rather than just sitting here, watching you panic." Rose proposed. Terezi gave an eager nod of agreement.

Karkat sighed. "Yeah, sure. You go ahead and do that. I'm going to work on some other shit."

 

* * *

 

      It was just a prank. Nothing to worry about, right? Karkat was definitely just joking around and Aradia was definitely okay. She was still at work, she was safe, and she was 100% okay. No car accidents, no injuries, nothing bad happened that day. Karkat was just being a douche and telling a cruel joke. In fact, he would prove that everything was okay once he called Aradia on his cell phone and she would answer his call and ask him about his day like she always did. Then he'll know for sure that Karkat was lying and that he was spending an hour driving to the hospital for nothing. 

Except that didn't happen.

     As Sollux drove through the streets in his police cruiser without even getting permission from his boss to leave work, he had already dialed Aradia's number on his cell phone and called three times. Unfortunately for him, nobody answered. He was immediately sent to voice mail each time he even tried. All this did for Sollux was cause him to worry even more. Why was nobody picking up? Was her phone even on? Aradia would be on her break at that time, she always had her phone on during her breaks.

     Suddenly, Sollux's phone began to ring. His heart pounded in his chest, but he sighed and threw his phone down onto the seat next to him one he saw the name on the caller ID. "Equius Zahhak". He always hated that guy since he first met him in high school, and he just couldn't believe he became his employer. He knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble for leaving work without permission, but he didn't care. Of course he cared about his job, but he had a good reason to leave.

     His phone stopped ringing as Sollux pulled into a parking lot packed with cars. On the other side of the lot was a gigantic white building and ambulances parked in front of it. Obviously it was a hospital. He shoved his cell phone into his pocket after putting it on vibrate mode so that it wasn't too loud inside the building. He rushed through the main entrance of the hospital as the automatic double doors opened up and he rushed toward the front desk.

     Sitting behind the desk was a young lady with short, wavy, blonde hair with lips painted black, wearing a set of light pink scrubs. She had been typing on a keyboard and giggling while staring at the computer screen in front of her, so it was safe to assume she wasn't actually doing much work. In fact, some chat notification dings were actually audible. Perhaps the lady had been talking to a friend? Oh whatever, that wasn't important. 

     As Sollux approached the desk, she looked up at him and her smile disappeared as she immediately lifted both her hands off the keyboard. 

"Okay," she began, "whatever you think I did this time, it wasn't--" 

"Save it for later, I'm not here to arrest anyone." Sollux said, cutting her off. 

"Oh." She let out a sigh of relief as her smile returned. "Then how can I help you?" 

"I'm looking for Aradia Megido, I was told she's here." 

"Hmmm, lemme check." 

     She looked back down to her computer screen and it took a few clicks before she began typing. Ignoring her annoying humming, Sollux looked around the front desk while waiting for an answer. The office supplies were cluttered and disorganized around her computer, and he saw a photograph next to her keyboard. It appeared to be of her, and she had her arm wrapped around a shorter girl with short, dark brown hair and oval-shaped glasses; there was a heart drawn above the two with something that looked like red nail polish. They seemed pretty happy. He then glanced at her name tag, which read "Roxy Lalonde". Why did this blonde girl seem so familiar? He knew Rose had an older sister but he couldn't remember ever meeting her. 

"Found her!" She announced. 

The sudden outburst startled Sollux and caused him to flinch. 

"Are you related slash family?" She asked. 

"No, we aren't related, but we live together." He replied. 

"Then I'm sorry, Mr. Policeman, I'm not allowed to let you see her. Unless you're her brother, or her cousin, or her husband--" 

Sollux began to heat up with impatience, but suddenly he got an idea. 

"I am!" He interrupted. "We're... uh, we're married." 

Not. 

Roxy raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say you aren't related?" 

"I thought you were asking if we were blood relatives." Sollux responded. 

Nice save. Although he probably made himself look stupid, he had no fucks to give. 

"Alright," Roxy said. "Your wife is in room 428 on the fourth floor." 

"Thanks."

Well, Karkat wasn't lying. 

     Sollux turned and made his way to an elevator and reached the fourth floor. He looked carefully at the signs next to each door he passed, so focused and anxious that he almost bumped into some passing nurses and doctors a few times. He managed to get some nervous looks from a few people in the halls; he figured it was because he was still in his police uniform. Plus, the most common assumption to be made about a cop walking quickly in public like he's got business to get done is that he's getting ready to arrest someone. And in a hospital? Yeah, of course people would be nervous if they thought there was a criminal in a hospital full of ill people. 

     Anyways, as he continued to walk through the halls, he lost focus for a moment. He couldn't believe Roxy actually believed him when he said he and Aradia were married. Or maybe she knew it was a lie but let him through anyways because she didn't really care? 

     Wait, did he just pass the room he'd been looking for? Shit. He turned around and hurried toward the door labelled "428". He grabbed the knob, but then let go. She was probably sleeping or something, so he decided to knock instead to make sure he was even allowed to go in. He didn't trust that Roxy girl he spoke to at the front desk, she was probably messing with him or something. Better safe than sorry, right?

     "Come in!" Said a cheery female voice from inside. She sounded nothing like Aradia. Oh well, he already knocked so there was no turning back then. 

     He cautiously opened the door and saw a short girl with short, brown hair, a pair of oval-shaped glasses, and she wore a set of aqua blue scrubs with a white doctor's coat over it; she looked exactly like the girl he saw in the photograph with Roxy. Her name tag read "Jane Crocker". She held a clipboard and looked up at him with a smile. Wow, she seemed so... lively. That fact that she was so happy around someone who might die kind of made him want to hurl. 

     "Are you this young lady's family?" She asked, gesturing to the hospital bed to her left. In the bed lie none other than Aradia, unconcious and definitely injured. She had a cast on her left arm which was tucked into a sling, her left leg was in a cast as well, and she had an IV in her right arm. The heartbeat monitor next to her beeped at a steady pace, so she was probably doing okay. 

     "Yeah." Sollux replied to Jane's question. To his surprise, she didn't even ask any further. She just nodded and accepted his response. "What happened to her?"

     "She was in a pretty bad car accident, her vehicle was hit by two cars. The first was a hit n' run, the second was an accident. Unfortunately that driver didn't survive." She explained as she looked down at the clipboard. "If you're wondering about Aradia's current condition and the injuries she sustained, I can tell you that as well. She sustained two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a badly bruised hip, a broken leg, a sprained wrist, and of course a concussion. Unfortunately the damage to her rib cage has made breathing more difficult for her so that is why she is currently on a ventilator, but she should be able to breathe on her own in just a few days if all goes well. All of her injuries are on her left side, and with a few surgeries, we were able to repair her leg and her ribs before they could cause further damage. She may be in here for about a week or two but we're very confident that she will fully recover." 

"When will she wake up?" 

     "It shouldn't be long, but I highly recommend letting her sleep and wake up on her own. Now before I go and leave you two alone, do you have anymore questions?" 

"No." 

Jane nodded. She made her way to the door and left the room, closing the door behind her. 

     Sollux sighed and sat down in a chair that sat next to Aradia's hospital bed. The good news was that she was alive and going to recover, but he still couldn't help worrying about her. It's kind of hard to convince yourself that everything is fine if your girlfriend (or any other significant other but in this case it's his girlfriend) looks all beat up and is unconscious in a hospital bed right next to you. 

     Several minutes had passed when Sollux felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw a notification on his screen that said that Karkat tried to pester him. Why couldn't he have just texted him? 

     Pesterchum was a pretty popular chat client back in the day; Sollux and his friends used it to instant message each other since they were 13 and since then have always kept the chum handles and weird typing quirks they used. What dorks. 

\-- carcinoGenetecist [CG] began pestering twinArmageddons [TA] \--  
CG: HEY  
CG: SOLLUX.  
CG: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?  
TA: at the bank.  
CG. WHAT. WHY?  
TA: that wa2 2arca2m, diip2hiit. where do you thiink ii am?  
CG: FUCK YOUR SARCASM, I KNOW YOU'RE AT THE HOSPITAL.  
TA: 2ay2 the guy who liiterally ju2t a2ked me where ii am.  
CG: STFU.  
TA: why are you even pe2teriing me? diid you break your phone agaiin?  
CG: NO, AND I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY PHONE IS PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL AND 100% INTACT.  
TA: 2o why aren't you textiing me?  
CG: BECAUSE MY PHONE DIDN'T CHARGE LAST NIGHT AND NOW IT'S DEAD SO NOW I HAVE TO USE MY COMPUTER AND I CAN'T TEXT ON THAT NOW CAN I.  
TA: ok, poiint taken. now what do you want.  
CG: EQUIUS IS FUCKING PISSED THAT YOU LEFT WORK JUST LIKE *THAT*  
CG: AND WHEN I TYPED *THAT*, IMAGINE ME SNAPPING MY FINGERS.  
TA: fuck that guy. aradiia ju2t got iinto a fuckiing car acciident and 2he ii2n't even con2ciious riight now and iif equiius ii2 2o mad about me cariing enough two go 2ee her then he can bend over and kii22 my a22.  
CG: WELL FORTUNATELY FOR YOU I SAVED YOUR JOB. I TOLD HIM WHY YOU LEFT AND INSTEAD OF FIRING YOU HE DECIDED TO ASSIGN YOU A SHIFT ON BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY SO YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE TO THIS WEEKEND.  
CG: AND SPEAKING OF ARADIA, HOW IS SHE?  
TA: 2he'2 ok. 2he'2 got bruii2e2 everywhere and four broken bone2 but the doctor 2aiid 2he'll make iit.  
CG: SO DOES THIS MEAN YOU'LL BE MENTALLY STABLE ENOUGH TO KEEP WORKING ON THE BIG CASE?  
TA: ii2 that a joke?  
CG: WHAT?  
TA: you only cared two a2k about aradiia'2 condiitiion becau2e you needed two know whether ii would be mentally 2table enough two work?   
TA: ii2 that 2tupiid ca2e all you ever care about?  
CG: I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT  
TA: you ju2t a2ked me how aradiia ii2 doiing liike the only iimportant thiing ii2 whether ii can catch 2ome douchebag.  
CG: WELL I APOLOGIZE FOR GIVING SO MUCH AS ONE FUCK ABOUT OUR JOBS AND THE SAFETY OF THE COMMUNITY  
CG: I'M EVEN ON MY KNEES, TEARS DRAMATICALLY STREAMING DOWN MY FACE, BEGGING FOR YOU TO FORGIVE ME AND ACCEPT MY SINCERE APOLOGY.  
TA: yeah whatever. ii'm not iin the mood for thii2.  
TA: and one more thiing. ju2t becau2e ii have a mental dii2order that giive2 me hy2teriical mood 2wiing2, that doe2n't mean ii'm 2uddenly unable two do anythiing that requiire2 the lea2t po22iible amount of thiinkiing.  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--  
CG: GOD DAMMIT SOLLUX  
CG: YOU BETTER BE IN THE MOOD FOR MORE TALKING LATER BECAUSE I KNOW HOW THE CAR ACCIDENT HAPPENED.

     Sollux turned off his phone and stuffed it back into his pocket. He let out an exasperated sigh as he buried his head in his hands, arms propped up on his knees. This just wasn't a good day for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked writing this chapter! I was hoping to add a bit more here but I decided I spent enough time on this one. Yay, this fanfic is finally near its end! I'm planning on writing a schoolstuck fanfic based on the lives of the characters before this fanfic but I'm not sure yet; it's pretty likely that it won't happen since I'm terrible at writing and coming up with ideas and portraying the Homestuck characters.


	9. Traffic Footage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Rose and Terezi investigate a murder scene, Sollux receives more bad news that Karkat refused to tell him.

     Rose and Terezi kneeled down on the sand of the vacant playground in front of a lifeless body that lay in a puddle of blood. The scene is bordered by bright yellow barricade tape and is surrounded by officers, crime scene photographers, a news van, and curious bystanders. 

"What exactly do you presume took place here?" Rose asked. 

 "Well, other than the fact that someone was clearly brutally murdered," Terezi replied, bringing her hand to her chin. "I'll have to guess that the victim obviously survived the beating and stabbing so the killer used a gun to finish him off." 

"Yes, Karkat already addressed that possibility." 

"Well I'm just confirming it. And Karkat addresses everything." 

"I can't argue with that. He seems to speak his mind whenever he has the opportunity." 

Terezi laughed. "You get used to his foul mouth after knowing him for as long as I have. He's actually fun to mess with." 

"I wonder how his family had been coping with his fury." 

"As far as I know, his father didn't like it and neither did his brother Kankri. I think Kankri was mostly bothered by the offensive terms and how sexual his insults usually sound." 

"Doesn't he have some kind of belief that is associated with celibacy? I wouldn't be surprised if Karkat is still a virgin due to that influence." 

"Actually, from my experience I can confirm that Karkat is not a virgin." 

"Wow." Rose cleared her throat. "I don't think I wanted to know that." 

"Oh please! Don't tell me you haven't gotten with Kanaya yet, I've seen the way you two look at each other." Terezi said, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Rose blushed. "We haven't, we were actually hoping to wait until after our wedding." 

"When will that be?" 

"Three months from now. We've spent quite a bit of time planning it since we got engaged and I am confident it will go pleasantly." 

"By 'it' do you mean the wedding or the you-know-what?" 

"I'm afraid that is not of your concern. Let's continue investigating this crime." 

Terezi sighed. "Fine." 

     Rose stood up and looked around the playground. "There seems to be a multitude of bloody footprints that end on the street with tire tracks." Terezi tucked a lock of her red hair behind her ear and stood up as well. "Yeah, I can smell it. Do you think the killer was trying to get away and was caught so he killed the witness before entering his getaway vehicle?" Rose nodded. "That seems probable. But if that's true then where was the criminal running from?" Sniffing the air, Terezi turned around to face the victim's corpse. "I'll go check those bushes by the body." She declared. 

     As Terezi walked off, Rose followed her. The two detectives entered the woody area behind the body away from the playground. "Some of these branches are broken and there are a few footprints that end right by that tree." Rose claimed. "Yeah and there's a black leather glove hanging on one of the branches." Terezi added, reaching for the glove and storing it in a plastic bag. "It could belong to the criminal." The two went back to the playground before Rose's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Rose greeted as she accepted the phone call.

"Rose, are you and Terezi at the crime scene?" Came Karkat's voice. 

"Yes. May I ask what this is about?" 

"Sollux is back at work and I had him look into some traffic camera footage to check on that high speed chase you and John were in." 

"Exactly how is that event related to this crime scene?" 

"Well there was a murder either this morning or last night and the victim is Feferi Peixes. According to the camera footage, the car you were chasing came directly from the direction of her home and toward where are you now." 

"I am assuming you suspect her murderer of being in connection with this one." 

"Bingo." 

"I am afraid I have neither ever met nor spoken to Ms. Piexes. Do you have any ideas about who her killer may be, perhaps a relative or family member?" 

"I knew her in high school, all I know is that she has a shitty scumbag of a boyfriend named Eridan Ampora. The funny thing is that he's missing. What a fucking coincidence." 

"Ah, I've met him before. I can confirm that he indeed is a shitty scumbag." 

"Have you seen him recently?" 

"No." 

"Could you ask Terezi?" 

"Yes, let me just ask her if she saw him with the eyes that do not function." 

"God dammit Rose you know what I meant!" 

"Relax, I was only being facetious. Of course I will ask Terezi about Mr. Ampora's whereabouts." 

"Terezi," Rose said, putting her hand to the phone's speaker. "Have you recently heard from Eridan Ampora?" 

"Nope." Terezi replied. 

Rose returned to Karkat. "Nope." 

"Well shit." 

"I'm afraid you will have to ask elsewhere. I would like to return to my investigation." 

"Yeah, sure. See you later." 

     And with that, Rose hung up and put her cell phone back into her pocket. She walked back to Terezi. "Looks like we have a suspect. Eridan Ampora, the boyfriend of Feferi Peixes. She was just murdered and he is missing." Terezi raised her eyebrows. "Nice. We're even closer to finding the killer." 

 

* * *

 

"Why won't you tell me why you needed to see the traffic footage?" Sollux asked, standing next to a water cooler in the hallway with a small cup of water in his hand.

"Because it's personal business." Karkat replied.

     The two had recently begun their break after Sollux returned from the hospital, learning that Aradia was possibly in a coma and the doctors would have to wait until the sedative drugs given to her for surgery wore off so they could tell. He felt anxious and hoped for the best that she would wake up soon because he could not bare losing her despite trying his best to protect her. As for Karkat, he did not want to inform Sollux of Feferi's murder. He knew that the two were, despite exes, friends. Not to mention he already suffers from the knowledge of Aradia's injury so adding Feferi's murder to that list would make him feel even worse and he would not be able to work.

Sollux sighed. "This is stupid. What personal business could you possibly have that requires traffic camera footage?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe some shithead was driving too slow and I wanted their license plate number so I could know who they are and hold a grudge against them?"

"Really. If you were telling me the truth, you wouldn't have told me what you just said."

"...Fuck."

"Just tell me what's going on!"

Karkat sighed and tried to subtly change the subject. "Did you not get my message on Pesterchum?"

"Which message?"

"I sent you one right after you disconnected on me."

"If it's not important, I don't want to know what it says."

Karkat sighed. "God damn it Sollux. Just go ask Rose about Aradia's car accident. She'll explain everything." 

"Fine." Sollux said, sipping the last of the water in his plastic cup before disposing of it in the trash. He walked away to go sit at his desk and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Shit, he never thought to ask for Rose's number. Well it's a good thing he has her chumhandle. 

 

* * *

 

\-- twinArmageddons  [TA]  began pestering tentacleTherapist  [TT]  \--  
TA: ro2e ii have two a2k you 2omethiing.  
TT: Well hello to you too.  
TT: What do you require assistance with?  
TT: I would rather you be quick. I am trying to investigate a crime scene with my fellow detective Terezi.  
TA: karkat told me two a2k you about aradiia's car acciident.  
TA: apparently iit ha2 2omethiing two do wiith traffiic camera footage.  
TT: Of course.  
TT: I looked at some traffic camera footage regarding her accident and I am assuming you would like me to explain to you exactly how it happened.  
TA: yeah, that would be great.  
TT: Well it seemed Aradia was driving West down Main Street just a tad bit after 8 o'clock on the morning.  
TT: As she was crossing a four-way intersection a speeding vehicle ran the red-light and hit the front of her car from her right, rotating it so that her side of the car was facing the street she originally drove from.  
TT: Shortly after the first driver who hit her sped off without putting their vehicle to a halt, another car which was originally behind Aradia's in the same lane of the road she drove from crashed directly into her side of the vehicle, presumably exactly where she was sitting.  
TT: Not only did I see it happen in the footage but I saw it in person as well. The first driver to hit her was a criminal and John and I were engaged in a high-speed pursuit at the time of the accident.  
TA: and you diidn't thiink two 2top for her?!  
TT: Actually, I was unaware of who the victim was until Karkat told you about it earlier today.  
TT: Other officers stopped to check on her and call help anyway, I had to continue pursuit of the criminal. Adding one more officer to the scene would not make any difference to her condition.  
TA: ii gue22 you're riight.  
TA: waiit, you 2aiid the acciident happened when 2he wa2 driiviing we2t down maiin 2treet.  
TT: That is correct.  
TA: why would 2he have left home 2o early? 2he doe2n't leave untiil 8:30 for work.  
TA: and iif 2he wa2 driiviing that way, 2he could have been driiviing from the mall. 2he only ever goe2 down that 2treet two go two the mall. what would 2he be doiing there?  
TA: not two mentiion 2he never goe2 there unle22 2he'2 buyiing an iimportant giift for 2omeone becau2e 2he defiiniitely know2 not two wa2te money on 2tupiid 2hiit whiile we're haviing fiinanciial ii22ue2.  
TT: I'm afraid I have no knowledge of that. You will have to ask her about that yourself.  
TA: yeah, ii'll do that when ii go back two the ho2piital two check on her tomorrow. a22umiing 2he wiill be awake.  
TT: Now that we were just discussing the criminal, I would like to ask you something as well.  
TT: Have you seen or heard from Eridan Ampora at all recently?  
TA: ew. thankfully, no.  
TA: why?  
TT: He is the suspect of the recent murder of Feferi Peixes.  
TA: waiit what? 2he's dead??  
TT: I thought Karkat informed you.  
TT: He told me no more than an hour ago that he had you get the camera footage and saw that the person who first hit Aradia was the same person who possibly killed Feferi. Actually, he may even be the killer of the victim we discussed this morning.  
TA: okay, waiit.  
TA: 2o you're meaniing two tell me that eriidan not only ju2t murdered my friiend but al2o fuckiing put my giirlfriiend iin the ho2piital?!  
TT: We are not certain that he is the one but it is a possibility considering he went missing right after Feferi's death.  
TA: oh my god.  
TA: ii have two go.  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so sorry it took so long to update this fanfic! Unfortunately I am losing a lot of motivation for it so please don't expect updates often. I'm focusing more on my Zombiestuck fanfic.


	10. Phone Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux goes to the hospital to visit Aradia, who has been comatose since the accident, and blames himself for what happened to her especially after a discovery he made in her hospital room. When he returns home, he decides that he should help around with the housework more often.

     It was the day after Sollux had found out about Feferi's murder and the identity of the suspect. He honestly didn't care whether or not said suspect was connected with the chain of murders his team had been trying to solve for the past few weeks. In fact, he couldn't care less about that case any longer. All he cared about was that one of his friends was killed and his girlfriend was in the hospital, both possibly because of the one guy he hated more than anything. He couldn't gather any words to describe the amount of pain he felt. Anger, sadness, confusion, frustration; he didn't know what he felt anymore. All he knew was that it was painful. 

    In the hospital bed in front of him lied Aradia, who was still comatose ever since the accident. He sat in a chair, which wasn't all that comfortable, that he had positioned so that he sat to her right and faced her. He leaned forward and buried his face in his arms which rested on her bed next to her; one arm was to support his head while the other was around it, his hand holding onto hers. At first he wondered why some of the hospital beds didn't have railings to prevent patients from falling off, but when he remembered how shitty the economy was, he wouldn't blame the hospital's low budget. 

     He had spent the last hour in the hospital room just waiting for Aradia wake up. Jane, the nurse who had been monitoring her health, had told him that whether or not she would wake up from her coma soon was unknown but it shouldn't have been very long since her head trauma wasn't as severe as it could have been. She informed him of what he should expect to see if she did wake up; it would take a comatose patient at least a day to wake up, beginning with a few movements of the fingers, and that if she did, she probably would have had memory loss but definitely common symptoms of a severe concussion. 

     He had been pretty lonely in his apartment for the past night. He had nobody to sleep with, nobody to vent to when he felt stressed (except there was Karkat but he never had any helpful advice), nobody to tell him they loved him, and nobody to just relax with after work. They would normally just sit on the sofa or lie in bed to watch tv; sometimes he would be on his computer playing video games or making his own and Aradia would watch. Occasionally the two of them would order a pizza and get a box of donuts for movie nights on Saturdays instead of going out and doing anything fancy or special since they couldn't really afford much. But instead of sitting next to him on the sofa leaning her head on his shoulder with his arm around her waist she was in a coma in a hospital bed, connected to a heart and blood pressure monitor, an IV, a ventilator, and a feeding tube. 

     He raised his head to look at her, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the light of the room. Her long, dark hair was sprawled out around her head and shoulders, dark brown curls resting on her face and her chest. He reached over and brushed the hair from her face before gently stroking her cheek with his hand. Her skin was cold to the touch. Her face seemed relaxed and she looked peaceful altogether. What made him feel bad was the sight of the cast and sling on her arm, the cast on her leg, the stitched up gash on her forehead, her pale skin... not only did she look peaceful but she looked broken at the same time. He couldn't help but to blame himself for what happened to her. He wanted to protect her but she was almost killed right when he wasn't there. He felt like it had been months since she had been in the accident. He didn't want to wait for her to wake up any longer. He wanted to relax at home with her, he wanted to talk about his day with her, he wanted to tell her he loved her.

     But he couldn't help but to continue to wonder why she went to the mall before going to work. She only went there to go gift shopping and that rarely happened considering their financial situation. Nobody's birthday is coming up, not to mention she seemed to have been hiding something the night before the accident. She mentioned she wanted to make a quick shopping trip but as soon as he asked what she wanted she told him "never mind" and then changed the subject.

     Looking around the room, he noticed that her purse had been on the nightstand beside her bed, just next to him. He didn't think going through her stuff while she was in a coma was a very good thing to do, but his curiosity got the best of him. What did she buy? He grabbed her purse and set it down on his lap, sticking his hands inside and rummaging through the contents. He doesn't seem to notice anything new but a phone case that doesn't even have a phone in it.

"That's weird." He said quietly to himself as he took the case out of the purse.

     As he examined it, he saw it still had a price sticker on the wrapper so it must have been the thing she bought from the mall. Except the price sticker wasn't what grabbed his attention. He noticed the color and pattern. It was black with a yellow trim. Those were his favorite colors and she knew that, so the case must have been for him. He then remembered the conversation he had with her one morning almost a week ago. She had asked him about getting a phone case to save repair money if he ever broke his phone but he never got around to actually buying one. So Aradia went to buy one for him herself and almost died in the process. She almost died doing something he simply should have done a long time ago.

     As he began to feel more guilt building up inside him, he lowered the case and put it back into her purse. He looked back at her after putting her purse back onto the nightstand and felt tears well up in his eyes. He propped his arms up on her bed next to her and buried his face in his hands, sobbing as the guilt and grief he felt no longer allowed him to remain calm. 

     He spent the next few hours in the hospital room sleeping, seated in his chair and leaned on her bed as he had been before he found the phone case in her purse. He wasn't able to sleep very well back at home since the accident so he had spent about half his visiting time with Aradia taking a nap as he waited for her wake up. He felt more comfortable with her where she was actually there and he spent as much time as he was allowed there in hopes of being there when she woke up. 

     When he felt a hand gently shake his shoulder, waking him up, he raised his head to look up at the nurse who had freqeuntly visited to check up on Aradia. 

"Visiting hours are over." Jane said with her usual gentle voice, taking her hand away and resting it on her hip. 

He looked down at Aradia for a moment. "I'll be on my way in a few." He said. 

Jane nodded and left the room. 

     Sollux stood up, maintaining his grip on her hand. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided not to. He wanted to tell her he was sorry for not being there for her but he found it to be futile since she was unconscious and most likely would not hear him. He sighed and leaned down, putting down her hand upon her other which rested on her abdomen and gently kissed her forehead before grabbing his things and the phone case and walking out. 

     When he returned to the apartment, he spent the rest of his Saturday reclined on the living room sofa with his laptop on his lap. He has been trying to code new software that he had been working on for a week but he found it hard to focus with what took over his mind. He sighed and looked around room, which was littered with empty potato chip bags and soda cans. The dishes had not been done and neither had his laundry. He decided that the least he could do for Aradia was clean up the place and keep it that way for when she came home, considering she always did most of the cleaning, so he began to do that chore himself for once. He picked up the trash around the room and threw it in the garbage and took out the trash, he washed the smelly dishes that piled in the sink, and he did the dirty laundry that sat in the small laundry room. After all, like Karkat said, Aradia wasn't a maid. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the chapters are getting shorter, I'm lacking inspiration for this fic. I'm just trying to get this done as soon as possible and I think it's better to release shorter chapters more often rather than spend weeks on longer ones!


	11. The Number 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Terezi introduce new evidence along with a new suspect to the others.

     Rose drove down a busy highway at 7:15 in the morning in her silver car. She wore a black jacket and a pair of gray jeans with her badge clipped to her belt, and was accessorized with a bright pink scarf to keep warm from the chilly weather that approached. It was the end of November and winter was coming up, calling for the season of foggy breaths and rosey cheeks. 

    Two days after investigating the recent murder scene with Terezi, Rose was prepared to look for more clues and informfation about the case. She was just as determined as Karkat to solve the mystery and catch the criminal(s), however she had a lot more patience. As she drove into a smaller street and pulled into a grocery store parking lot, she felt a few vibrations from her cell phone in her pocket. She ignored them until she drove toward a McDonald's restaurant on the other side of the lot opposite of the grocery store and took her place in line for ordering. 

     She removed her cell phone from her pocket and entered her password to unlock the device before opening Pesterchum to see that her older sister and co-worker had both messaged her. It's so weird how she and her friends had never seemed to truly grow out of using the chat client. She supposed it's more private than texting. 

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--  
TG: rosey!!!  
TG: i see u on the news  
TG: why arent u answerin me this is IMPROTANT NEWS  
TG: *IMPORTANT lol  
TT: I apologize for making you wait so long. I did not realize that I am employed and have a job to attend.  
TG: thats sarcasm isnt it  
TT: I was hoping it was obvious.  
TT: Shouldn't you be working?  
TG: i am  
TG: well kinda  
TG: todays a slow day in the hospital smh  
TT: Well that's good. That means not many people are hurt.  
TG: speakin of work i know ur not at the station yet  
TG: its not even 7:30 yet  
TT: I know. I'm waiting in line to get breakfast on my way there.  
TT: I would have responded to your messages sooner however texting and driving isn't particularly a thing I do.  
TG: oh pls its not that dangeous  
TG: i do it all the time and not ONCE have i crashed into anything  
TT: Perhaps getting rid of that habit would be a good idea but I'll let you decide for yourself.  
TT: Anyway, what was that about me being on the news?  
TG: i was lookin at a news website bc i was bored and had nothin else to do  
TG: and i just so happened to come across an article about that case thingy ur workin on  
TG: apparently john got SHOT???  
TT: Yes, that is correct.  
TG: oh nooo :(  
TT: He is doing well, there is no need to worry.  
TG: good  
TG: have u found the killer yet  
TT: I'm afraid not but we are working on that.  
TT: Speaking of the case, we already have a suspect and I need your help.  
TG: :O  
TT: Surely you've met Eridan Ampora before?  
TG: omg yes we used to date for a lil bit back in high school  
TT: I don't think I even want to question that decision.  
TT: Anyway, his girlfriend Feferi Peixes was murdered two days ago and Eridan had been missing around that time. We think he may be involved in her murder and various others.  
TG: thats not possible  
TG: he told me before then he was goin away to see his family for thanksgiving like he does every year  
TT: You still speak to each other?  
TG: of COURSE  
TG: mostly at a bar tho  
TG: but i think u have the wrong guy  
TT: Where does his family live?  
TG: idk he never told me  
TT: Well thank you for your assistance. I should get going now.  
TG: cya!!  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] \--

     Rose exited the chat window and looked up out the windshield. The line still didn't move. At that rate could have been late for work. She decided that she might as well have answered Terezi while she waited.

\-- gallowsCalibrator  [GC]  began pestering tentacleTherapist  [TT]  \--  
GC: ROS3 1 TH1NK 1 FOUND SOM3TH1NG TH4T COULD HELP OUR C4S3  
TT: Can it wait? I just had an important conversation with my sister and I would like to get my breakfast in peace now.  
GC: ROXY?  
TT: Yes, that is her.  
GC: UGH F1N3 BUT TH1S 1S 1MPORT4NT  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] \--

     Rose sighed. Couldn't she have had some peace? After a few more minutes of waiting, her turn to order came up and she received her pair of Egg McMuffin sandwiches before driving off to work. After a short amount of time, she reached her destination and made her way to her office as she finished her breakfast. Disposing of the wrapper inside her trash can, she took a sip of her coffee as Terezi walked into her office.

"It's about time you got here!" She said, putting her hands on her hips. "We have an important meeting in the conference room today."

"Sorry, I overslept and the line for McDonald's was quite long." Rose raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this is about those important news for the case you mentioned to me earlier?"

"Why yes, it is." Terezi smiled.

"Good." Rose replied. "I have some important news as well that I think would be worth sharing during the conference."

"Then come on, let's go!" Terezi exclaimed, turning around and walking away. "Karkat and Sollux are waiting."

     Rose finished the last of her coffee before getting up and following Terezi to the conference room where, like she said, Karkat and Sollux waited. Rose took a seat at the table as soon as they got there. On the table lied numerous folders which contained documents about the cases they worked on as well as a laptop in front of Sollux, who didn't seem to be in a very good mood at all. Karkat seemed a bit tired and Rose was slightly drowsy, making Terezi the only one in the room who actually had the energy to willingly discuss the case. Remaining standing, Terezi looked through the pile of folders and documents before picking up what looked like a yearbook.

"Alright," Terezi began, walking over to the front of the room and resting her hands on the narrower side of the rectangular table. "I called this meeting because I have some important news to share that I am certain will help us solve this case once and for all."

"Is that our high school yearbook?" Sollux asked.

"I'm not there yet!" Terezi snapped. Sollux leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Anyway," Terezi continued. "Before I begin, I need to know who our suspects are."

"All we have is Eridan Ampora," Karkat responded. "But we barely even have any evidence against him."

"He went missing after Feferi... you know." Sollux replied. "I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like a coincidence."

"I don't think Eridan is the one who killed her." Rose pointed out. "He may not even be the one who sent John and Aradia to the hospital."

Sollux, Karkat and Terezi looked at her, puzzled.

"This morning I had a conversation with my older sister, Roxy." Rose continued. "She and Eridan used to date in high school and she told me that Eridan left nearly a week ago to see his family for Thanksgiving. That could be why Eridan is not around."

"Then who the fuck would kill Feferi?" Karkat asked.

"We have no evidence that this was personal." Rose replied. "Remember that Feferi was very wealthy. Crimes against those of higher class are usually not personal and are more commonly committed with the purpose of stealing luxuries."

Sollux sighed. "I refuse to believe that this wasn't personal." He grumbled. 

"Okay, let's say it _was_ Eridan. Why would he want to kill Feferi, shoot John, and hit Aradia?" Karkat said. 

"Hitting Aradia was not intentional and I can assure you he only shot John because he was pursuing him." Rose said. "As for Feferi, I have no knowledge whatsoever on the state of her relationship with Eridan."

"She and Eridan have been fighting a lot." Sollux responded. "Aradia told me before the accident that Feferi was kicking him out of their house." 

"We can't blame Eridan for the murder and everything else that happened just because we dislike him and he was not around at the time of Feferi's death." Rose said. 

"Exactly. This is why I have another suspect in mind." Terezi announced. 

     The other officers watched as she opened the yearbook in her hands and flipped through a few pages before putting the open book down on the table and sliding it to Karkat. He leaned over to briefly scan the pages before furrowing his brow in confusion. 

"Vriska Serket?" He said, pointing at an individual student photo which had been circled with red marker. 

"Yep. We were on the same FLARP team against Tavros and Aradia and she used to harass Tavros constantly and occasionally pick on Aradia too. When she paralyzed Tavros, we ended our little roleplay group before she started going to some private school in the middle of Sophomore year. Surely you remember her, Sollux." 

"What does this have to with our case?" Sollux asked. 

"All of our victims had 8 stab wounds, right?" Terezi replied. 

He nodded. 

"Vriska used to have a thing for the number 8." Terezi said. "Not to mention, one of her ancestors was a famous pirate during the early 1800's. She went by the name Marquise Spinneret Mindfang and Vriska idolized her and even told me she wanted to be just like her." She continued. 

Karkat looked up. "But--" 

"PLUS," Terezi continued. "Vriska has a criminal record which contains her short history of theft and assault back in her teenage years. She had been sent to a juvenile correction center however her family used their wealth to easily bail her out. Eridan has nothing to do with this, but I know that Vriska does." 

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Karkat nearly shouted. 

Terezi smirked. "I figured it out last night but I didn't want to ruin the suspense." 

"I can't believe you." He grumbled. 

"Wait..." Sollux said. "Vriska is still in town. Just a few days before her accident, Aradia told me that Vriska yelled at her in the cafe about some expired coupon. I even saw her there myself that day." 

"Are you serious?" Karkat exclaimed. 

"Wait, she was in that cafe?" Terezi says, not having seen Vriska in years.

"Do I look like I'm fucking joking?" Sollux responded. "The only difference now is that her hair is dyed black with a streak of blue and her eye makeup is black too. She even had a few minor bruises on her knuckles and she could still be here! She's the one who killed all of those people and robbed them, she killed Feferi, she shot John, she hit Aradia, and we need to stop her before she hurts anyone else!" 

"Wait," said Rose. "We can't just arrest Vriska on the spot, we have no evidence she was involved with this particular case."

Terezi sighed. "Does the number 8 not mean anything to you?" 

"What about that finger print that was found on the most recent victim's watch?" Karkat asked.

"Well that may take a while." Rose replied. "Typically a finger print takes around 2 to 3 weeks to be analyzed in the labs but with one as smudged as the one we have possessed, it may be too difficult to even be successfully analyzed."

"Two weeks? We can't wait that long!" Karkat exclaimed.

"Than I suggest we work harder to find new evidence. We can detain Vriska for questioning since she is now a suspect however we cannot make any arrests without any evidence that proves that she was directly involved in any crimes."

Terezi shook her head with disappointment. "Fine. Do you want to go out and do more investigating?"

"That's what we work here for." Rose said. "I recommend we visit some of the local businesses around a few of our crime scenes and look over security camera tapes again and more thoroughly."

Karkat stood up. "Sollux, I need you to do some research on Eridan and Vriska. Find out about their histories and criminal records, credit card usages, phone numbers, anything that might help us find out where they are."

"And what are you going to do?" Sollux replied.

"I'm going to find them myself and bring them down. I know exactly what to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm already almost done with this fic. I'm not really sure how many more chapters there will be until it ends but I probably won't hit 20!


	12. Red Lilies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux takes Karkat and Terezi with him to the hospital to visit Aradia. During their short stay, Karkat discusses his new plan to catch their criminal and seeks assistance from Kanaya.

"So tell me again why you're bringing us here?" Karkat said, Terezi's cane in his hand, as he and she walked beside each other down a quiet hall in the community hospital. 

"Because you guys are Aradia's friends too and when she wakes up I don't want to have to tell her that I'm the only person besides a doctor who ever visited her." Sollux replied, walking in front of his two friends. 

     The three had been on their breaks, still in their police uniforms, as they navigated the halls of the building. The halls had been almost empty with very few nurses, surgeons, and custodians passing by every so often as well as a few other visitors. The soft beige color of the walls gave off a relaxing feel and the sound of the footsteps on the white tile floor were the few things to be heard in the silent halls. It was a Monday afternoon and the week had just begun, rays of sunshine blazing through the windows at the end of the halls and illuminating the halls like the plain white lights that decorate the ceilings. 

"If you wanted us to come with you, you should have at _least_ reminded me to bring something like _that_." He replied, gesturing toward Terezi before giving her one of his famous what-the-fuck looks. 

"What?" She said after noticing the look, carrying a pot of red lilies in her hands. "I thought she would like something nice to look at when she wakes up." 

"She isn't even the flower type of girl, I'm at least 99% sure she would rather have a bag of ancient dead things." 

"Well I think she would appreciate the smell of these flowers just as much as I do." Terezi scoffed. 

"What do you know? You barely even talk to her."

"That's not true! We still talk on Pesterchum just like in the old days and I'll have you know that she enjoys the color red just like I do and I thought a lively plant would lighten the mood in her room."

"Well _I'll_ have _you_ know that those flowers would probably fucking wilt and die out before she even wakes up, assuming she doesn't do the same." 

"Shut the fuck up, she's not going to die. The doctor told me she would be okay." Sollux said as he stopped walking and turned around to face his friends, more particularly Karkat. 

"I never said she was going to, shitbag, but you can't be too sure that she will make it. I heard that the longer you stay in a coma, the smaller your chances of waking up will be." He replied. 

"Karkat you're not helping." Terezi shook her head. 

"I'm just saying that he should prepare for the worst case scenario! What the fuck is wrong with that?!" 

Sollux turned back around and continued walking, followed by Karkat and Terezi. "I'd rather hear that from someone who actually went to med school." 

The three continued to walk until Terezi slipped on a bag of bandages on the floor and nearly fell over, catching herself with her other foot and regaining her balance. "Shit!" 

"Are you okay?" Karkat said, glancing at her. 

"Yeah. I hate these halls, everything is nearly the same color and I can barely smell where I'm going." 

"Then take your cane back, I don't even know why I'm holding it." 

"No, I'm fine. I can still smell you guys so it's not like I'll walk into walls. Plus these lilies smell delicious." 

Karkat rolled his eyes. 

     After a few moments of navigating the halls, the three arrive at Aradia's hospital room to see her being tended to by a doctor; the same doctor Sollux had met the first day he visited. 

"Welcome back." She smiled, looking up at them. "I see you've brought friends." 

"Yeah, thanks." Sollux replied. "How is she?" 

"Well, she has been doing great!" Jane said, listening to her stethoscope of which the chest piece was placed on Aradia's chest. She then removed it and looked up at the heart monitor beside the bed. "Her vitals are stable, blood pressure is normal, and she regained just enough strength to breathe for me to take her off the ventilator." 

"Holy shit, that car wreck really must have fucked her up." Karkat said, crossing his arms. 

Terezi proceeded to walk over to Aradia's bedside and placed the pot of lilies on the nightstand before she slightly leaned over her. "You better wake up soon, we're gonna kick Vriska's ass and I know you'd wanna watch that." She said with a smirk on her face before turning back around to face the others. 

"She should wake up in less than a week." Jane said. "She has good brain activity and CT, MRI, and x ray scans showed no new physical injuries. She still has a concussion though, so once she wakes up you should expect her to feel some fatigue, confusion, sensitivity to light and noise, and the other normal symptoms. The best thing we can do to help that is to just wait for it to heal on its own." 

Jane wrote some things down on the papers on her clipboard before she headed to the door. "Any questions before I leave?" 

"No. Thanks." Sollux said. 

Jane then waved before heading out the door, closing it behind her. 

     Silence ensued for a bit. Karkat and Terezi watched as Sollux went over to Aradia's bedside and sat on a chair that he had pulled from beside the nightstand. They gave off looks of sympathy as he held onto Aradia's hand like he always had done when he visited her. 

"Wow, he must really feel bad about this." Terezi said. 

"Of course he would, his girlfriend is in a damn coma." Karkat mumbled. "I think I'd be the same way if it were you in that bed." 

Terezi smiled. "I'm going to go get some jello from the cafeteria." She said before walking out of the room. 

"So... what do you usually do while you're in here?" Karkat asked, turning to Sollux. 

"I just wait. Sometimes I sleep in here too because I can't do it back at home knowing that she's in here." He responded, keeping his eyes on Aradia. 

"I can tell." 

"What?" 

Karkat raised his eyebrow. "Trust me, I know an insomniac when I see one." 

Sollux sighed. "So what were you talking about back in the station when you said you were going to hunt down Eridan and Vriska and bring them down?" 

Karkat hesitantly thought for a moment. "I, uh... I actually have no idea yet. It was the heat of the moment and I wanted to say _something_ useful while we were on a roll." 

"Well it looks like you'll have to think of something before everyone realizes what an idiot you are." He said, chuckling. 

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Wait. What if I were bait?" 

"What?" 

"Rose and Kanaya are rich. What if I had them let me borrow some expensive looking clothes and jewelry and I just stand outside in the dark waiting for our killer to catch me?"

Sollux turned his head to look at Karkat. "Are you _asking_ to get killed?" 

"No!" Karkat scowled. "I could be wired with a mic and you and the other officers could sit in some van across the street and listen. If something goes wrong, then you'll know to come out and kick some ass." 

"Wow." Sollux nodded. "That's actually clever. But what makes you think Kanaya would agreed to let you pull something like that?" 

"Shit, uh... I'll just tell her that I'd be saving lives by doing this." 

"Yeah, good luck with that." He replied, turning his attention back to Aradia. His hand lied on top of her hand which rested on her abdomen, and he intertwined his fingers with hers before he suddenly saw one of hers move and touch his hand. 

"Holy shit," He said after noticing. "Her finger just moved!" 

"What?" Karkat furrowed his brow.

"I saw her finger move and I felt it touch my hand!" He said, turning his head to look at Karkat.

"I'm sure it was just a twitch. It happens." He responded, looking down at his cellphone. 

"...Are you looking this stuff up?" 

"Yeah, I just Googled it and it says that if a comatose patient shows any small signs of response like moving a finger or even their head, it means that they would probably wake up soon." 

"How soon?" 

"I don't know, it just says soon!" 

"The doctor told me about this a few days ago," Sollux glanced at Aradia, who continued to lie still. "Maybe this is a good sign. Maybe she'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be able to take her home."  

"Maybe." Karkat mumbled, barely paying attention. He continued to stare down at his phone screen. 

"What are you doing now?" 

"I'm going to ask Kanaya if she could help me with our plan." 

"Don't you have to get Chief Horseshit's permission first?" 

Karkat laughed. "Chief Horseshit. That was a good one. But no, I just want to make sure that Kanaya is on board before I set things up only to find out that she isn't." 

He opened Pesterchum on his phone and saw that Kanaya was online. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA] \--  
CG: KANAYA I NEED YOUR HELP.  
GA: Well Hello To You Too Karkat  
GA: How Can I Be Of Assistance  
CG: YOU KNOW THAT CASE I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SOLVE FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS WITH THE OTHERS?  
GA: I Think Rose Mentioned It To Me On One Occasion  
GA: Are You Referring To The One For Which The Victims Seem To All Have Been Stabbed Eight Times  
CG: THAT'S THE ONE  
GA: Rose Said You Have A Suspect Now  
CG: YEAH IT'S VRISKA.  
GA: I Honestly Do Not Find This Surprising  
CG: YOU DON'T?  
GA: Considering Her Past Run Ins With The Law  
GA: No  
GA: I Broke Up With Her For A Reason  
CG: WELL I GUESS I WOULDN'T BLAME YOU.  
GA: So What Is It That You Need My Help With  
CG: OH RIGHT  
CG: I WANT TO ACT AS BAIT FOR THE CRIMINAL.  
GA: Absolutely Not  
CG: WHY NOT!  
GA: Because This Is Too Dangerous For You  
GA: Ive Heard What This Criminal Does  
CG: I'VE BEEN THROUGH TRAINING, I KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS.  
GA: Exactly How Are You Going To Deal With It  
CG: I'M PLANNING TO STAND OUT IN THE STREET ALONE ONE NIGHT AND WAIT FOR THE CRIMINAL  
CG: I'LL BE WIRED TO A MICROPHONE AND THERE'S GOING TO BE A VAN ACROSS THE STREET WHERE THE OTHERS WILL BE WATCHING SO IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG THEN THEY'LL HELP  
CG: BUT IN ORDER FOR THE CRIMINAL TO ACTUALLY TAKE INTEREST IN ME IN THE FIRST PLACE I NEED TO WEAR SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME LOOK LIKE I MAKE GOOD MONEY  
CG: AND THAT'S WHAT I NEED YOUR HELP WITH.  
GA: I Suspect This Is A Very Bad Idea  
CG: KANAYA PLEASE, THIS COULD SAVE LIVES IF IT GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN. I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU.  
GA: I  
GA: Fine Ill Help  
GA: Ill Notify Rose And Perhaps We Could Meet Tonight And Discuss The Plan More Thoroughly  
CG: THANKS, THAT SOUNDS GOOD.  
GA: Where Are You At This Moment  
CG: I'M AT THE HOSPITAL WITH TEREZI. SOLLUX DRAGGED US HERE TO VISIT ARADIA  
GA: Thats Right I Heard About The Accident  
GA: How Is She  
CG: SHE'S FINE. SHE'S BEEN IN A COMA FOR THE PAST FOUR DAYS BUT SHE'LL BE OKAY.  
GA: Be Sure To Offer Sollux My Condolences For Me  
CG: HE SAYS HE APPRECIATES IT.  
GA: Well I Must Get Going  
GA: I Have An Important Phone Call To Take  
CG: ALRIGHT I GUESS I'LL GO TOO.  
\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how hospitals and injuries work but I did as much research as I could so please forgive me if any of this is the least bit inaccurate!


	13. Killer Bait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux and Terezi help Karkat carry out his plans to stand outside in night, hoping to lure in their criminal with the expensive outfit he had Kanaya buy for him.

"This is a waste of time and money." Sollux complained, preparing a small microphone. 

"Yeah, we won't catch the criminal this way. If it really is Vriska, she won't kill somebody she knows." Terezi explained, sitting back on the side. 

"Yeah, just like she didn't know Feferi before killing her, right?" Karkat responded. "We have to at least try this, it could work." 

"Whatever, just hold still." Sollux instructed, picking up a small microphone and clipping it to the inside of the collar of Karkat's shirt. 

Terezi only shook her head. 

     It was 9:00 PM and the three sat inside the back of a police van disguised as a flower delivery van. Kanaya had taken Karkat shopping in a fancy clothing store and he had dressed in a somewhat formal attire: a white button-down long-sleeved shirt with an open black blazer over it and a pair of long khaki pants. He had also been accessorized with a silver watch he borrowed from Kanaya and he had his hair done neatly. He of course felt weird having to be dressed up like he was but he knew it would give him a better chance for his plans to work. It's a good thing Kanaya and Rose were wealthy, they were usually able to provide him some financial support when he really needed it, even when he couldn't afford textbooks for a college class he took (and dropped). He didn't exactly like it when they helped too much, however, since it usually made him feel like a child.

     But of course finances weren't the only subjects of Kanaya's motherly treatment toward Karkat. It was difficult for him to get her support for his plan, which they discussed further once he arrived at her house, but he managed to convince her anyway. That, and he had to make a deal with her that she would be the first to know if something bad happened to him. Agreeing to that wasn't a problem though, seeing as Karkat was near certain that his plan would have gone smoothly.

"Okay, this microphone will record everything you hear and say so that we can hear it too, and this ear piece will let you hear what we say when we talk to you." Sollux explained, handing Karkat an ear piece to put on his ear. "It looks just like one of those weird little phones that rich people put on their ears so people will think you're just some ordinary guy who has shit to do. And if someone attacks you, obviously we'll know and jump right out to kick his ass."

"His? The criminal is Vriska, I don't know how much more obvious it can get. Nobody else would stab people 8 fucking times out of all numbers." Karkat responded.

"Well we'll find out about that if we catch them." Terezi said, clasping her hands together. "Now go and do your thing."

     Karkat scowled at her sudden hurrying attitude before opening the back doors of the van and stepping out. After they climbed into the front seats of the van, Sollux and Terezi patiently watched as he walked out onto a sidewalk in a short distance in front of a few open businesses. The sidewalk was well-lit with streetlights and the lights from the large windows of the stores along the road so it wasn't too hard to see Karkat. Once he made it to the sidewalk he just stood and leaned against the wall of a UPS store, looking around impatiently. In the front of the van, set up the dashboard was a small laptop that he had used to record and play the sound that was detected on Karkat's microphone. Plugged into the laptop was a headset with a microphone that Sollux wore to communicate with Karkat if necessary. 

Sollux sighed as he leaned forward against the steering wheel. "I can't believe we have to sit here and watch him for a whole hour."

"Well he does seem determined that this will work." Terezi shrugged. "His commitment to his job is one thing to admire."

"Yeah I guess, but I don't get why he made us do this shit with him instead of someone who actually cares enough to stay up this late for it. I'm fucking exhausted."

"You haven't slept much have you?"

"I've gotten a few hours at home only because my depression pills make me drowsy but that's the only thing they're working for now. I still feel like complete shit."

"Don't worry," Terezi replied, patting him on the upper back. "It'll pass eventually." 

     After a few minutes of talking and consolation, Terezi looked back at Karkat to see him in the exact same position as he had been at first. "Doesn't that doofus know how to act like real bait?" She said, before turning to Sollux. "Use that mic and tell him to do something that will make him look distracted."

"Fine." He said before hesitantly turning on his microphone. "KK, get on your phone."

Karkat waited a moment before replying. "What? Why?"

"And put two fingers on your ear piece so people don't think you're talking to yourself, idiot."

He sighed and followed Sollux's instructions.

"There," Karkat sneered. "Now why the everloving fuck are you telling me to get on my phone? I'm wearing a microphone."

"Because you're more likely to be seen as a target if you look distracted. And because TZ told me to."

Terezi scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"It'll help if you walk around a bit too or go inside one of those shops to get attention in case our criminal is in there." He continued.

"Ugh, fine." Karkat said before he took out his phone and looked down at it as he hesitantly walked into the store.

"This is stupid." Sollux muttered, receiving nothing but silence for Terezi.

     The two proceeded to spend their waiting time visiting different sites and watching Vines and Youtube videos on the laptop while Karkat continued to stand and walk around the area where he could still be seen. The clock above the radio in the van emitted a faint green glow as the rest of the light inside the van came from the laptop screen which displayed many different colors of different brightness every few minutes. Sollux and Terezi made sure to check up on Karkat every so often to make sure that they hadn't accidentally lost him, and spent the rest of the hour passing the time with the Internet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this chapter is so short! I wasn't very motivated while writing this but the next chapter should be longer.


	14. Simpler Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After discussing the outcome of Karkat's plan to catch their criminal, Rose introduces another case to work on to take the others' minds off of their stress for a bit. Afterwards, Sollux visited Aradia in the hospital and arrived to experience a pleasant but emotional surprise.

"I told him this wasn't going to work." Terezi reminded, eating from a bag of potato chips as she sat at the conference table with Karkat, Sollux, and Rose.

"Shut up, you know I had good intentions. I thought it would work." Karkat snapped back, his hand on his forehead with his arm propped up on the table as he leaned forward.

     It was the morning after Karkat's plan to detain their criminal suspect had failed and he spent his time embarrassed before he slept at night and after he woke up in the morning. He had been slowly losing his once strong determination to solve the case each day and the failure of his plan which he had such hope for especially made his stress no better. In addition, his recent fighting with Terezi and his continued lack of good sleep habits made him feel worse. He had not informed Kanaya of his failure, however, and was not planning on letting her find out anytime soon. But realizing that Rose was in their discussion that morning, he knew that a lecture from Kanaya would be imminent.

Rose shook her head in disappointment, but maintained a look of some support. "Your plan was, in fact, a good idea, but I can't say I'm satisfied with how it went."

"Yeah, I know. I failed so it's obvious you guys are all disappointed in me. Not to mention, I'll never fucking hear the end of it from Kanaya."

"Can you blame her?" Rose chuckled. "Honestly I think she is more likely to be relieved that you are okay. I've seen the way she infantilizes you since high school."

"Oh shut it. That's her thing, it has nothing to do with my maturity."

"I know. Anyway, while we have no helpful news for this case, I figured we could discuss another one." Rose continued. "I'm sure you are all familiar with Gamzee and Tavros?"

"I know who they are, but you mentioned a case. What happened with them?" Sollux said.

"They were both arrested for possession and distribution of illegal narcotics, however they haven't been convicted and we need to investigate their situation further." She responded. "While Gamzee is confessing to the crime, both he and Tavros are arguing that Tavros is innocent and was not involved in the crime in anyway."

"Wrong place at the wrong time." Terezi suggested, giving Karkat a look of guilt.

Rose nodded. "Exactly."

"Wait, I got them arrested." Karkat said with a hint of realization in his voice. "I reported suspicious activity from Gamzee, but Tavros? Committing a crime isn't him, we can't let him go to jail because his asshole of a fucking boyfriend put him in danger."

"Which is why, like I said, we should investigate further into their case. We have all the evidence we need to prove Gamzee is guilty of the crime but we need to gather evidence that will prove Tavros's innocence." Rose declared. "Too many times have I seen innocent people be convicted of the crimes of their lovers with them and Tavros is a friend."

"So we should probably go to Gamzee's and Tavros's houses to investigate." Terezi offered, eager to do more detective work with Rose.

"I think we should." Rose agreed. "Karkat can interrogate the two and Sollux could check for Tavros's background, history, and any criminal records if any. A clear criminal history would be very helpful."

As soon as jobs were assigned and directions were given, the four of them began to work.

* * *

     After the long work hours he had endured, Sollux drove down the calm streets which were illuminated by the blue, yellow, and orange sky. He had to get off work later than expected but there was still time left over to visit Aradia so he decided to do just that. It was day 5 of her coma yet he had felt like months passed by. Each passing day he felt as increasingly lonely even though his other friends were around and he had begun to lose interest in his computer games and TV. Clearly this was none other than his depression which he had had for a very long time since middle school, so it wasn't exactly something that he had never felt before. 

     Once he had gotten to the hospital, he made his way to Aradia's room just as he would every other day he entered the building. Of course, to nobody's surprise, she was still asleep. He was told by Jane that he would receive a call notifying him of her awakening if it happened, and he had waited everyday for that call but he never got it. He hoped that during this visit she would be able wake up but at the same time he'd been slowly losing hope that she ever would. 

     When he arrived at her room, he sat down in the chair that sat facing her at the side of her bed. He took her hand in his and proceeded to talk to her about his day, despite knowing that she couldn't hear him. He told her about how the criminal case had been stressing him out even more, how he hadn't been able to sleep as often at home during the night, how he had been spending more time on his computer to distract him from the emotional pain he had felt, but he tried to sound as positive as he could. He didn't want to maintain a negative environment while she could wake up soon and he wanted to pretend that she was awake and listening. Normally she would tell him that things would get better and comfort him in every way she could, but because she wasn't even conscious, he had to leave it to his imagination. 

     After a few minutes of a one-sided conversation had gone by, the door to the room opened and Jane entered the room, wearing her usual light blue scrubs and white doctor coat with the hospital logo on it. She carried a clipboard in her arm like she did the other days she checked in. 

"Oh, you're here a bit early." She said with a surprised expression. 

Sollux just barely nodded, too tired to have any intention of starting a conversation. "Yeah." 

"Well, I'm just here to check up on her one last time for tonight and I'll be out of your hair in no time." She said as she walked toward the bed and went back and forth between looking at the monitors and writing things down on the papers on her board. 

"Do you always do this? I thought it was a nurse's job." He wondered outloud. 

"Well because this town's economy isn't doing so well, we don't have very many nurses on staff with our hospital's budget so they're focusing more on patients who are more disabled and conscious. Plus I like to take extra care in making sure my patients are alright." She responded, letting out a small laughter that sounded like a hoo-hoo. 

He sat in silence for a moment before finally speaking. "Yesterday, when I was visiting, I felt Aradia's finger move while I was holding her hand." 

"Oh, well that's good." Jane said, flashing her signature buck-toothed smile. "It means she should be waking up soon. We won't know exactly when that will be, it could be today or next week." 

He sighed and thought for a moment. "Is there a vending machine or something around?" 

"Of course." She said. "There's one right across the hall to your left." 

He nodded. "I'll be right back." He said before getting up and leaving the room with his wallet in his hand. 

     After he left, Jane continued to check the numbers on the monitors after she was left with no distractions. The room was in silence once again with the exception of the rhythmic beeping from the heart monitor, and the air escaping through the air vent on the ceiling. She continued to fill out some empty spaces on the form on her chart until she heard soft movement from right next to her. She looked over at the bed to her right to see none other than Aradia slowly turning her head toward her. She then remained still again for a few short seconds before her eyes slowly opened, squinting and blinking a few times to adjust to the light.

"Oh! You're awake." Jane said with a gentle smile and a soft voice. She put her clipboard down on the end table on her side of the hospital bed. "How do you feel?"

Aradia blinked and remained silent for a few seconds. "...My head hurts, and... I'm tired." She said quietly but audibly. Seeing as she had been asleep for 4 days, it would have been a bit ironic that she was tired but of course oversleeping could have that effect just as much as sleep deprivation.

"I bet you are." Jane remarked. "Do you know who you are?"

Her energy low, Aradia just barely nodded.

"Do you know where you are?"

"...A hospital?" Aradia replied, looking down at the casts on her arm and leg.

"That's right." Jane crossed her arms. "Do you know what happened to you?"

She thought for a moment. "...No."

"You were in a pretty bad car accident and you've been in a coma for 5 days. You have a concussion so your headache and lethargy are completely normal and you may experience some confusion, nausea, and mood changes as well." Jane explained. "You may also experience short-term memory loss but all of that is only temporary."

"Aradia?" Came a voice from the other side of the room. The two girls looked up to see Sollux entering from the door. "You're awake."

     Jane, standing at the other side of the hospital bed, watched as he walked over to the other bedside. Having put his wallet in one of the pockets of his jacket, he had a bag of Doritos in one of his hands and a water bottle in the other. As he reached the bedside, he put both of them down on the end table at his side of the bed and observed his finally awakened girlfriend. She glanced up at him with tired eyes and he struggled to find his words or any way to react. He wanted to be happy that she was awake but he found it difficult to feel that way when the girl he loved still looked so broken and empty. He did, however, vow not to lose hope that she would get better soon.

"You do remember me, right?" He asked, having heard what Jane said about memory loss.

"Of course I do." Aradia game a weak smile.

He failed to fight back a smile as he sat down in the chair at his bedside as he rested his hand on her hand which was lain on her abdomen. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, intertwining her fingers with his and feeling his grip on her hand become tighter but gentle. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Well," Jane began. "Now that you're awake, I think now would be a good time to dilscuss your injuries, recovery, and your stay here. Aradia, from your car accident, you've sustained a concussion, two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a badly bruised hip, a sprained wrist, and a broken tibia. All of these injuries are on your left side and we have fixed them all up in some minor surgeries but you should try not to move too much. You will also experience some difficulty with pain from breathing and moving your chest or back because of your ribs, so you may want to take it easy and try not to cough while they heal on their own. It will take about 8 weeks for your leg to heal completely but the cast can be removed in about 5, and your shoulder should take about 6 weeks to heal completely but you can come in to get your cast taken off in just 2."

"How much longer will she have to stay here?" Sollux asked, hoping to be able to take Aradia home soon.

"Around 3 days. We need to continue keeping an eye on her to monitor how her concussion may have affected her physically and psychologically but because she is very stable now, if all goes well, she can be discharged no later than this Friday." Jane responded. "But the soonest she can leave is Thursday morning." 

"Sounds good." He replied. 

"Well it looks like I'm done here." Jane said, picking up her clipboard. "I'll be on my way now, but visiting hours are almost over." 

After Jane left the room, Sollux took his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time.

Glancing at the case, Aradia smiled. "I see you found the case that I bought you. Do you like it?" She said with a tired voice.

"Yeah," He responded. "You didn't have to get it for me. I should have been the one."

"Why?"

"...You really don't remember what happened this morning?"

"I was in a car accident." Aradia guessed. "...Wasn't I?"

"Yeah, and... fuck, I don't know how to explain this." Sollux cursed. "Look. After you left the mall, your car was hit by two others while you were trying to cross an intersection. One person died and you almost died with them."

"Did I cause the--?"

"No, you didn't. It was..." Sollux sighed. No matter how much he wanted to blame Eridan for what happened, he started to believe that there was a chance that Vriska was actually the one to be blamed. "You're a victim. It was a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time incident, that's all."

"How I get hit by two cars in one accident?" She furrowed her brow with confusion. 

"There's traffic footage that revealed it but I couldn't bring myself to watch it." Sollux responded. "Rose told me it was when you were crossing an intersection. Some criminal she was pursing in a high-speed chase hit you and then sped off, and that spun your car around so that another car that was originally behind yours hit you head-on before it could stop. You didn't do anything wrong, but..." 

"...But what?"

"None of this would have happened to you if I had bought the phone case myself before but I waited and made you do it yourself."

"Sollux, this isn't your fault."

"You almost died getting something I should have gotten myself a long time ago!"

"But I'm not dead now. I'm alive, I'm okay."

"I know, I..." He used his jacket sleeves to wipe the tears that welled up in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I just really missed you and I barely slept these past few days."

"I know. But I'll be home by the end of this week." Aradia said in an attempt to console him. Of course she was used to his self-loathing but she made sure to try to comfort him with hugs and pats on the back and in any other way she could, except it had gotten harder to do so since was practically immobilized. "So was I really out for 5 days?"

"Yeah," He replied. "But you didn't miss out on much."

"I guess that's good." She said, yawning. "What's today's date?"

"November 3rd."

Aradia sighed. "I hope I can get all these casts off before our anniversary next month, or at least the week after on Christmas."

"I think you have time." He assured her, looking down at a calender on his cell phone. "Shit, it looks like it's time for me to leave now."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Aradia said, looking up at him as he stood up from his chair and stuffed his phone in his pocket. "I love you."

"Love you too." He replied, giving her a small kiss on the lips before he grabbed his things and leaving.

     When he got into his car, he sat in the driver's seat in the parking lot for a few minutes. He had held his cell phone and went through his photo album, which really didn't contain many photos other than occasional selfies with friends and embarrassing pictures of Karkat and random people in public he managed to sneak onto his phone with the camera. He scrolled up the album to view the older pictures he had, which were mostly stored and imported from his computer since he usually broke his phones, from down to his high school years. At those times there were many more pictures of him and his friends either doing stupid things or just hanging out. His only friends in those pictures were really just Karkat, Aradia, Terezi, and Feferi.

     After a few seconds of scrolling, he came across a section of pictures taken during his school's senior prom. It took him a moment to remember that the only reason he had so many photos from that event was because his group wanted pictures but Sollux was the only one who actually remembered to take their phone. There was a picture of Aradia and Terezi standing on either side of Karkat, taking advantage of being taller than him by resting their elbows on his shoulders and making jokingly condescending faces. Terezi and Aradia both wore matching strapless knee-length red dresses and Karkat wore a red tie with his gray suit, so that picture was probably taken just because they both centered their outfits around the color red. Then there was another photo of Terezi and Aradia with their arms around each other and smiling at the camera and another of Terezi and Karkat. There were some pictures of Terezi messing with Karkat, and then one of Karkat covered entirely in fruit punch and Terezi walking away in the background. He remembered this was an incident where Karkat tried to get mess with Terezi in retaliation for her minor shenanigans but accidentally went too far and embarrassed her. After those pictures came a few of Aradia and Feferi standing together, Feferi whose fuchsia-colored gown was bigger and more fancy compared to Aradia's simple dress, and then there were a few photos of Sollux himself with Karkat and then with Aradia (he never got any with Terezi since she left early). His pictures with Karkat were mostly of the two of them goofing off and messing with each other; his pictures with Aradia were mostly of smiles and kisses with their arms around each other (they had been dating for a year at that time).

     He remembered that neither he nor Aradia wanted to go to the prom since neither of them were the type to wear suits or dresses or go to parties but the only reason they went was because Feferi insisted they go while Terezi dragged Karkat with her. He ended up having a bit of fun though, which he didn't really expect to have much of at first, really only because he got to witness Karkat mess up his date with Terezi and to mess around with his friends, as well as actually making a memory of a decent date with Aradia that didn't involve sitting around and doing nothing. Looking at the pictures on his phone made him wish that things were as simple for him as they were before he graduated high school. Sure, he had teachers who annoyed him to near death, but he and his friends weren't getting into trouble and they actually had the time and energy to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, sorry this took so long. I seriously lack motivation for writing, but I finally managed to finish this and here's an extra long chapter to make up for my inactivity! Just a reminder, Arasol is probably going to be the main ship in this fic but the others will get some representation too so don't you worry.


	15. Don't Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Aradia is discharged from the hospital and taken home, both Sollux and Karkat struggle with their newly strained relationships.

     By the time it was Friday evening, it didn't actually feel like two days had passed. Time seemed to have gone by very quickly, actually, since Sollux knew that Aradia was finally awake. It made it much easier for him to sleep at night knowing that his fear of her never waking up wouldn't actually happen. He managed to get through work in a slightly better mood, although the excitement he held in to visit Aradia in the hospital each day made him a bit bitter and impatient in general. Overall, his mind had cleared up a bit and it just made things easier for him.

     During the previous two days, Tavros's case was of course further investigated. Rose and Terezi visited the scene in which he and Gamzee were arrested and spoke to other officers who had worked with the case before and failed to find any evidence that indicated Tavros's involvement in Gamzee's crimes. On Wednesday, they at first questioned the other officers about what they found from the scene and then went the next day on Thursday to visit a forensic technician in a crime lab to assess possessed evidence.  They managed to discover that the evidence only proved Gamzee's guilt of committing the crime but nothing pointed to Tavros. Karkat had spoken to both of them separately to ask questions about what they did, where they were when something happened, and other general questions to get a general idea of what they did; he found that their stories lined up perfectly and didn't detect any lies or suspicious activity. Sollux did a background check on both Gamzee and Tavros and he found that while Gamzee did have a history of drug abuse and was a victim of child negligence (which was believed to have led to the drug abuse), Tavros had a clean criminal record and nothing relating to any type of crime was found. John, who had been released from the hospital the previous day and was going to take a week off from work to recover from his injured shoulder, contributed to Tavros's pleading of innocence. Although John and Tavros had not gotten along very well, John was willing to confirm that Tavros was never into any suspicious criminal activity.

     After regrouping with Karkat, Rose, and Terezi on Friday, the four worked with Tavros's lawyer to set up a trial case in an attempt to prove Tavros's innocence; that was the last thing Sollux had done before he left the department to pick up Aradia from the hospital after he got a call that she was able to be discharged. She had been given a wheelchair rather than crutches since she could not support herself on them with one healthy shoulder, so this made it harder for her to navigate fully. Neither of them had to deal with someone in a wheelchair in a very long time so it was hard for Aradia to figure out how to use it, especially turning, and it was hard for Sollux to figure out how to fold it and store it in the trunk of their car. Of course, due to her concussion, Aradia did seem a bit irritable and quiet lately. She didn't seem to smile or laugh or talk as much as she used to, and she wasn't very frequent in showing much emotion toward much of anything at all. Her doctor suggested that it might have been a minor case of depression caused by her head injury so she prescribed her some light anti-depressants in addition to her pain medication.

     He did empathize, though. He had suffered depression before and for many years since middle school so he knew how she might have felt, except he never expected her to ever suffer through the same thing. After the two made it back to their apartment building, she remained silent as they made their way to the apartment itself. They had to ride the elevator up to their floor, which Aradia didn't seem to be used to since she usually used the staircase. When he unlocked and opened the door to their apartment, he pushed her wheelchair inside and closed the door behind them.

"Well, we're home... finally." He said with uncertainty, looking around. He wished he were happy but knowing that Aradia was suddenly so emotionless after so many years of being happy made him feel uneasy and distracted him.

Aradia merely looked around the living room for a few seconds. "It looks... clean. Cleaner than I remember."

"Oh, right. I decided to clean up the place so you'd have something nice to come back to." He responded.

"That's sweet."

"Yeah, I guess I finally grew up." He said, giving a nervous chuckle. Aradia didn't respond and his smile faded into a frown.

"So... are you hungry? I could make us a couple sandwiches or something." He asked in an attempt to start up a conversation.

"I guess. Sandwiches are okay." She said.

"Okay, then uh..." He wheeled her over to the small dining table near the kitchen and moved one of the chairs out of the way for her own. "Just wait here, I guess."

     He went over to the kitchen to prepare some simple ham and cheese sandwiches, occasionally glancing back to see Aradia not doing anything but staring down at the table and fidgeting with her finger on the table. When he finished he brought the two plates which each held two sandwiches to the table and the two ate together in silence. Once he finished, he realized that she had been eating slower than she usually did and was just halfway done. He got up to wash his plate in the kitchen sink and then stood in the kitchen and took out his phone. He saw that Karkat was online on Pesterchum so he decided to talk to him to pass some time.

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--  
TA: kk what are you doiing.  
TA: hey. vanta2.  
TA: karkat?  
TA: there'2 an iidle button for a rea2on, a22hole.  
TA: ii'll waiit.  
CG: I WAS BUSY, HOLY SHIT. YOU DON'T NEED TO MESSAGE ME FIVE TIMES.  
TA: bu2y doiing what exactly?  
CG: TEREZI AND I JUST GOT INTO ANOTHER FIGHT IF YOU REALLY MUST KNOW.  
CG: NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT?  
TA: ii need adviice.  
CG: YOU NEED ADVICE  
CG: FROM *ME*  
CG: ARE YOU SURE I'M TALKING TO THE RIGHT SOLLUX?  
TA: hey fuck off, thii2 ii2 2eriious.  
CG: FINE. WHAT'S GOING ON.  
TA: how diid you deal wiith tz when 2he wa2 all depre22ed and 2hiit after gamzee fucked her up?  
CG: WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THIS UP? WHERE ARE YOU GETTING AT  
CG: DOES THIS HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH ARADIA? DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE HER HOME?  
TA: ye2 and ye2. ii don't know how two explaiin iit, but... 2he doe2n't 2eem liike her2elf.  
TA: iif that make2 2en2e.  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE DOESN'T SEEM LIKE HERSELF? OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T BE, SHE GOT HIT BY TWO CARS AND FELL ASLEEP FOR FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT.  
TA: ii know that! but thii2 ii2 diifferent. 2he'2 gotten hurt from tiime two tiime throughout the year2 becau2e of her weiird archaeologiical and flarpiing adventure2 and 2he would bounce riight back from iit liike iit was nothiing. 2he wa2 alway2 exciited two get back on her feet 2o 2he could go back two doiing what 2he loved.  
TA: but ever 2iince the acciident thii2 week, 2he'2 ju2t... off. 2he 2eemed fiine on the fiir2t day but after that, 2he ha2n't 2miled for the pa2t two days and doe2n't 2eem two giive two 2hiit2 about much of anything anymore and ii don't know what two do.  
TA: her doctor 2aiid iit could be depre22ion 2o ii know that but ii've 2pent 2o much tiime goiing through iit my2elf all the2e year2 that ii don't know how to help her now that 2he's kiind of goiing through the 2ame thiing.  
CG: I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I CAN HELP YOU SINCE TEREZI'S REASON FOR HER DEPRESSION IS DIFFERENT. DOES ARADIA HATE HERSELF AND COMPARE HERSELF TO HER SISTER?  
TA: no. ii don't thiink 2he'2 ever hated her2elf and ii don't 2ee a rea2on a2 two why 2he would. and we haven't 2poken two her 2ii2ter iin a year 2o there'2 a no for that two.  
CG: OKAY THEN  
CG: I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS COMPLIMENT HER EVERY NOW AND THEN TO LIGHTEN HER MOOD A BIT. THAT'S WHAT I DID WITH TEREZI. AND IF SHE'S NOT INTERESTED IN TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING, DON'T PRY.  
CG: AND IN HER CASE, DON'T ASK HER WHY SHE'S DEPRESSED. OBVIOUSLY SHE'D BE THAT WAY SINCE SHE ALMOST DIED AND HER BEST FRIEND WAS MURDERED.  
TA: oh fuck. that'2 riight, ff ii2 dead.  
CG: WAIT  
CG: YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ARADIA?  
TA: no ii haven't! ii forgot two when 2he fiir2t woke up becau2e ii wa2 overwhelmed but now that 2he doe2n't 2eem to be haviing a good tiime, ii don't thiink telliing her would make her any better.  
CG: HOLY FUCK, SOLLUX. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD I AM FACEPALMING RIGHT NOW.  
CG: FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT WAITING TO BREAK THE NEWS IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO.  
TA: why?  
CG: BECAUSE SHE TRUSTS YOU. IF YOU WAIT TOO LONG TO TELL HER, SHE WILL FEEL LIKE YOU BETRAYED HER ONCE YOU DO AND SHE WILL BE EITHER ANGRY OR UPSET WITH YOU.  
CG: IF YOU TELL HER SOON, IT WILL BE A HEAVIER BURDEN TO CARRY ON HER SHOULDERS. BUT WHEN SHE STARTS TO HEAL FROM HER DEPRESSION, SHE CAN HEAL FROM THE LOSS AT THE SAME TIME. IT'S BEST TO JUST GET IT ALL OVER WITH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE INSTEAD OF WAITING UNTIL SHE'S FINALLY HAPPY AND THEN RUINING HER AGAIN  
CG: PLUS SHE HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW AND YOU KNOW THAT.  
TA: ii gue22 you're riight. ii ju2t don't know how ii'm goiing two hell her.  
CG: YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGURE THAT OUT YOURSELF, I'M NOT A SPEECHWRITER.  
TA: ugh fiine. thank2 for the adviice.  
CG: YOU'RE WELCOME.  
CG: ANYWAY  
CG: YOU'VE SPOKEN TO DAMARA?  
TA: yeah, but iit was only once. ii never talk two her anymore but aa 2tiill doe2 once iin a while.  
CG: WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT???  
TA: ii can't remember every la2t detaiil but ba2iically what happened ii2 that ii went over two aa'2 hou2e for the fiir2t tiime one day 2iince we 2tarted datiing.  
TA: apparently damara already knew about u2 and when 2he 2aw me, 2he walked up two me and wanted to a2k me que2tions. apparently 2he wanted to know iif ii wa2 good enough a boyfriiend for her 2ii2ter and what 2he a2ked me after that wa2 creepy a2 fuck.  
CG: WHAT DID SHE ASK?  
TA: iit's embara22iing. fiir2t 2he a2ked me iif i re2pected her, whiich ii found a rea2onable thiing two a2k, but then 2he 2tarted a2king me about how well ii can plea2ure aa iin bed a2 iif we were even ready for that at the tiime.  
CG: THAT'S BETTER THAN WHAT SHE'S SAID TO ME.  
TA: what?  
CG: I'M NOT FUCKING TELLING YOU, I'D RATHER NOT RELIVE THAT MOMENT AS TRAUMATIZING AS IT WAS.  
TA: fiine. and anyway, a2 2weet and kiind a2 2he 2eem2 two act iin publiic, ii don't thiink ii want two talk to her agaiin. iit'2 not liike ii can an2wer her que2tiion now next tiime 2he a2k2 iit iif 2he ever doe2 agaiin, 2he'd probably just be dii2appoiinted and thiink ii'm boriing even though ii don't really giive a 2hiit.  
CG: WHAT? YOU'RE STILL A VIRGIN?  
TA: no! ii've done iit wiith ff once whiile we dated during the summer before our hiigh 2chool 2ophomore year and ii may have acciidentally gotten drunk and hooked up wiith dave once at the new year2 party of our juniior year. ii can easiily get laiid, thank you very much. aa'2 ju2t not ready yet 2o ii'm wiilliing two waiit untiil 2he ii2.   
CG: OKAY I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR ALMOST NONEXISTENT SEXUAL HISTORY. AND I DIDN'T KNOW YOU USED TO BE GAY.   
TA: gay? ii've been bii2exual thii2 entiire tiime, you ba2tard.  
TA: and what, you don't thiink ii know about your2?  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?  
TA: you really don't know? ii diidn't WANT two hear iit but tz wa2 drunk and mad and told me 2ome 2tuff last independence day.  
CG: WHAT DID SHE SAY?!  
TA: all ii heard wa2 that your fiir2t tiime wa2 a paiinful di2a2ter. 2he 2aiid you biit her whiile... you know.  
CG: SHE TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT? OH MY GOD.  
CG: AND FUCK OFF, I THOUGHT SHE WAS INTO BITING BUT APPARENTLY IT'S ONLY OKAY WHEN SHE DOES IT.  
TA: but iin THAT area?? holy fuck. here'2 a word of adviice: don't biite and u2e your damn tongue next tiime.  
TA: oh and by the way 2he al2o 2aiid you're terriible.  
CG: I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE THIS.  
TA: yeah well beliieve iit.  
TA: anyway you can deal wiith tz your2elf. ii 2hould get back to aa.  
CG: FINE, I WILL. AND GOOD LUCK TELLING HER ABOUT FEFERI.  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--

     After putting his phone back into his pocket, he turned to Aradia who had just finished her last sandwich. He washed the plate for her before placing it on the dish rack with all the other drying dishes. He realized he had forgotten to put away some of them before he took Aradia home so he did just that before he going back to her and wheeling her over to the sofa in the living room. He helped her out of her chair, hearing a few noises of pain she let out and apologizing in response, and helping her onto the sofa on which she slowly leaned her back against in an attempt to get comfortable.

"Why am I sitting on here?" She asked with slight confusion.

"Because I have to tell you something." He said with uncertainty. "And it's not good so I thought you might want to sit somewhere comfortable."

She looked down at the sofa and then back at Sollux.

"It's about Feferi. I wanted to tell you the day you woke up but... I was overwhelmed and I completely forgot. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to wait to tell you the day after because I don't want you to feel any shittier than you probably already do right now."

Aradia blinked. "Just tell me. What happened, is she okay?"

"She's, uh..." Sollux paused for a moment to think of how to break the news but he just gets more nervous with each second he waits. He remembered what Karkat told him about just getting the news over with but no matter how much Sollux wanted to wait, he knew that doing that would just break Aradia's trust.

She just watched him with tired yet curious eyes as he struggled to find his words, and he looked back down at her before sighing. "Feferi is dead."

"...Wait, what?" Aradia said, furrowing her brow with confusion. "Is this a joke?"

"No." He said, somewhat surprised Aradia doesn't look devastated. "On the morning of your accident, she was murdered in her house. The person who killed her might be the same person who hit your car trying to flee the scene. And I mean the first person."

"But who could have wanted to hurt her?" She said, visibly worried.

He shrugged.

She sighed. "That's terrible. She was my best friend, and now... I can't believe she's gone."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I-I just need time to process all of this." 

     The two discussed the topic further before watching a bit of TV and then getting ready for bed. It was much harder for Aradia than she expected, considering she had to change into her pajamas and she wasn't sure how was going to take her clothes off and put on new ones without hurting her arm or leg. Not to mention it was the end of November and it was getting cold so she would have to wear clothing with longer sleeves which would be much harder to put on. Her hospital gown was quite easy to put on and take off since the design wasn't so complicated, and changing into her clothes to go home was difficult so she needed the assistance of a nurse. She found that pants were slightly easier to change into since not as much maneuvering was needed as for the application of shirts. These were more tight-fitting clothes though, so she figured that loose clothing like her pajamas would be much easier to apply. Once Sollux wheeled her into the bedroom, she asked him to help her sit on the bed after she chose out the pajamas that he gave to her and then she asked him to leave the room and give her privacy to change.

     She managed to slip her good leg through one of the sleeves of her dark gray sweatpants but had a bit of trouble fitting her other leg through since the cast took up more space. Of course she had to get up off the bed so that she could pull her pants up over her hips so she did just that, nearly falling over but regaining balance as she leaned onto the bed with her good arm. She straightened back up and used her good arm to pull her pants up, and then sat back down on the edge of her bed. She looked down at the loose long-sleeved faded red shirt that lied next to her on the bed and sighed. She knew that putting it on would be difficult since it's harder getting an arm bent at a 90-degree angle through a sleeve than it would be with a straight leg, but she had to try so she did just that. She put her shirt of her head and maneuvered inside and popped her head right out of the collar of the shirt and effortlessly pushed her good arm out its respective sleeve. Her casted arm was still inside her shirt but she decided to leave it in there because she didn't have much energy left to even bother with it. I was starting to get very cold since it was nearly December so the shirt would keep her arm warm anyway; it's not like she would have even been doing much with it.

     When she decided she was finished changing, she invited Sollux but into the room and had him put away her other clothes for her. She was thankful she didn't need his help putting her shirt on since she wasn't a huge fan of revealing much of her body to anyone (which is why she rarely went swimming or wore shorts) and she also felt weird needing assistance with basic tasks. It's not that she'd never had a broken arm or a broken leg before, it was weird because she'd never had them both at the same time. Or broken ribs, those made everything much more painful for her including breathing alone. She tried not to make her pain so obvious though since she didn't want Sollux to worry too much about her; he did blame himself for the accident and he had a habit of being really dramatic about it whenever he'd accidentally hurt her in some way that he blamed himself for so she felt that making her pain obvious would only make him feel worse. His self-loathing had begun to annoy her a few times but, being the patient person she was, she would do what she could to help him out anyway.

     Despite knowing that she survived the crash and yet feeling down knowing that her best friend is dead, she found it easy to embrace the comfort of her own bed. Her anti-depression pills, which Sollux spent 5 whole minutes trying to convince her to take since she hated pills, had made her drowsy. As the two lied down after the lights were turned off, they remained separate from each other on their own sides of the bed. They usually slept close together, sometimes him with his arms around her or her with her arms around him, except that night was different. She noticed he didn't seem to interact much with her during the past few days and she didn't know why, but she didn't seem to have the energy to wonder why. In fact, she didn't have much energy for anything; physical or mental.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw yeah, finally finished this chapter! I finally went over my word count goal of 3,000 words for once. Anyway, here we can see that Aradia is going into her depression phase which is a reference to her ghost phase in Homestuck. The next few chapters might focus a bit more on her and her relationship with Sollux, maybe also on Karkat and Terezi's relationship as well. I didn't want this to be too depressing so I decided to add in a bit of humor and friendship in Sollux's Pesterchum conversation with Karkat. I'd add pale Solkat to the relationship tags but this is humanstuck so oh well.


	16. Crumbling Relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dealing with a long hard week, Aradia and Terezi relaxed in Aradia's apartment and have a heartfelt conversation about their problems. Terezi discussed her crumpling relationship with Karkat and Aradia continued to mourn over Feferi's death.

     The next week had been quiet and more relaxed, yet uncomfortable. Sollux had decided to use some of his paid vacation days to take the some time off from work to help take care of Aradia and himself. Not only had she been having trouble figuring out how to use her wheelchair on her own, since she only had one good arm to use, but she had been lying in bed or on the living room sofa for the majority of the time she spent at home. During the first few days she would often forget to eat due to a lack of an appetite that came with her depression so Sollux had to be there to remind her and make sure she didn't accidentally starve herself, but when her anti-depression pills started to take effect just a few days later she had an easier time remembering herself and not feeling so down. Although she was still generally quiet and upset (presumably because of Feferi's death), they helped her become more responsive whenever he tried to start some conversations with her and she began to feel less tired and have more of an appetite so she was beginning to become more of herself, but he knew that it was only because she was on medication and couldn't wait for her to be able to be happy on her own. Of course he himself had to go on his own anti-depression medication a few times before, but his need to use them had become very rare so he didn't take them very often. He just kept them around in case he needed them, which hadn't been for a while.

     It only took a few days for Aradia to not need Sollux's help to move around as much since she learned to balance on her good leg, so he decided to return to work that Thursday so he didn't use up all of his vacation days. As he sat in his quiet apartment during his short break, he would often sit on his computer playing some of his video games or simply practicing his coding to ease his exhausted mind. Other times he would watch TV, and when there was nothing else he felt like doing, he would often simply nap with Aradia in their bed whenever she felt like she needed a good rest as well. On Saturday afternoon the two decided to go out to eat at a local restaurant together since neither of them had the time to go on a formal date for a while, and they had also visited a few other parts of town that they hadn't seen yet. Overall, the two had spent their small vacation just resting and taking a short break from life. After all, it helped him feel more relaxed and it helped her feel more like herself.

     Meanwhile, Karkat and his law enforcement team continued to investigate Tavros's and Gamzee's drug possession case. It gave them a break from the main case they had gotten so bored of working on for the past few weeks, and it gave them a chance to catch up with old friends. Karkat used to be good friends with Gamzee so they had caught up a bit each time he visited him in jail. Terezi would catch up with Tavros and even invited Aradia to visit with her once for a short FLARP group reunion, which obviously didn't include one member but that didn't matter much since that missing member broke everyone apart in the first place. Aside from their FLARPing adventures, the three often spoke about middle and high school memories. Tavros and Aradia had been friends since 3rd grade in elementary school so the reunion was especially pleasant for them. When they first met up since Aradia's accident, he did his best to comfort her when she ranted about how difficult her wheelchair had been to get used to and she had an easier time talking about it with him since he used to have to use one for a year before he got his prosthetic legs (which were generously fully paid for by his friend Gamzee's wealthy family during 7th grade). The two hadn't met Terezi until 6th grade in middle school so they didn't have elementary school memories with her, but they still included her when they reminisced about their pasts together. The three simply felt at ease with each other and the nostalgia they felt helped bring them closer together.

     On the other hand, Karkat and Terezi had not been getting along well. Terezi's recklessness and carefree behavior had driven Karkat mad, while his own short temper had driven Terezi away. By Friday, she had gotten tired of having to deal with Karkat's yelling and irrational anger so she decided to take a break from being with him and went to stay with Aradia and Sollux in their apartment for as long as she felt she needed to. Of course Sollux protested to letting Terezi stay since she had a tendency to "act out", but Aradia convinced him to let her stay anyway since she and Terezi had a closer relationship. Not to mention, Terezi offered to help pay rent in exchange for them letting her stay so this helped Aradia and Sollux's financial instability by a little bit. Because the apartment was small and only had one bedroom, Terezi did sleep on the living room sofa but she didn't exactly mind because that meant she was closer to the TV and the fridge. 

     Not to mention, Eridan and Vriska had remained in her house ever since Eridan had begun staying with her. Because patrolling around the city and its borders had increased, they ruled it unclear to be out in public unhidden without being apprehended by the police. While Vriska's face had been all over the news, Eridan was not yet made a priority so he was not in as much danger as Vriska was. He could walk around in public, however he still needed to avoid particular officers and knew better than to take that risk. 

     On Sunday evening, the apartment was silent apart from the movie that played on the TV in the living room in which 'Perfect Day' by Hoku blared. Both Terezi and Aradia sat on the sofa watching Legally Blonde, which was picked out and illegally downloaded Terezi, each wearing their pajamas and eating from a cup of strawberry yogurt. Sollux was in the bedroom sitting at his computer and wearing his noise-cancelling headphones, so of course he didn't mind the noise let alone notice it. 

"So when are you going to tell me what Karkat did to make you leave?" Aradia said before having another spoonful of her yogurt.

"I don't want to talk about it." Terezi mumbled.

"Oh come on, it's been 2 days. And Sollux and I are letting you stay in our apartment, you could at least tell us what exactly drove you here."

"Fine." Terezi sighed. "I don't think Karkat loves me anymore."

Aradia grabbed the remote to pause the movie. "What? I'm sure he does."

"No, you don't understand! We've been arguing a lot and he's been acting like such a piss baby to me all the time. I know he's just stressed out from that case we're working on, but that doesn't mean he could take all his anger out on me and I'm getting tired of it."

"Have you considered talking to him about it?"

"I've tried but he just brings up the stupid case and makes me seem like the bad guy in all of our fights."

Unsure of how to respond, Aradia frowns and stays silent.

"So how's Sollux taking this whole thing?" Terezi continued, intending to change the topic.

"The case?" Aradia said. "He's been pretty stressed out about it too but I don't think he's gotten as bad as Karkat. He's been more upset than angry but it was mostly since my car accident."

"Well at least he isn't so obsessed with being a good leader like Karkat is. I wouldn't blame Sollux though, Feferi died and you almost did too. How are you taking it by the way?"

Aradia could feel her heart drop at the sound of Feferi's name and the word 'death' in the same sentence. "I still miss her." She said after a second of silence.

"Yeah I bet, but don't worry. I bet that wherever she is, she's doing alright." Terezi said, consoling Aradia with a gentle pat on the back.

After just a moment, Terezi's cell phone began to vibrate. "Ugh, great." She said, sighing with disappointment and picking up her phone. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] \--  
CG: TEREZI WHERE ARE YOU?  
CG: LOOK, I TOLD YOU I'M SORRY  
CG: AT LEAST TELL ME YOU'RE OKAY SO I KNOW YOU WEREN'T FUCKING KIDNAPPED.  
CG: WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO STOP IGNORING ME?  
CG: I KNOW I'M A CONTROLLING ASSHOLE, YOU ALREADY TOLD ME. I JUST WANT TO TALK AND MAKE THINGS RIGHT  
CG: YOU KNOW WHAT, FINE  
CG: I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE STILL EVEN TOGETHER BUT IGNORE ME ALL YOU WANT  
CG: JUST KNOW THAT I'LL BE WAITING AT HOME OR AT THE STATION IN CASE YOU WANT TO COME BACK  
CG: AND I'LL KEEP MY PHONE ON IN CASE YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME AGAIN.  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] \--

"Who was that?" Asked Aradia who had a questioning look on her face.

"It was Karkat. Again." Terezi said, muting her phone and stuffing it into her back pocket. "He kept messaging me but it smells like he still doesn't know where I am."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes! If he refuses to let me help him with his problems then he doesn't need me, he can figure them out himself. Obviously I'm not helping him much if all he can do is yell at me." Terezi snaps, causing Aradia to wince. "Sorry, didn't mean to jump at you like that. My relationship is falling apart, you know?"

"It's okay." Aradia said. "I get it."

"...How are you so patient? Sollux's level of douchiness isn't that far from Karkat's, how are you two still doing so well?" Terezi inquired after a second.

Aradia shrugged. "I've had to deal with my broken older sister for a while, I've gotten kind of used to being given the cold shoulder."

"Well yeah, but... you and Sollux have been together for four years and not only do you still act like you've only just fallen for each other but you can still manage to be the dorky little shits you were when I first met you guys. How the fuck do you not let life screw you over?"

"I don't know, maybe we're just lucky. But we do have our bad times every now and then, we don't have that much money and you know how terrible the economy is. We just try not to let it get in between us."

"If only Karkat had that kind of attitude." Terezi scowled. "Honestly sometimes I wish we could go back to our high school years where life was much more simple and carefree. If I tried harder, maybe I would have gotten accepted into law school and became the lawyer I've always wanted to be. Maybe my relationship wouldn't be crumpling then."

"Well we can't exactly travel back in time and change anything so I guess we just make the most of what we have now and hope the odds are in our favor."

"Yeah." Terezi picked up the remote which lied on the sofa between her and Aradia and unpaused the movie. "Let's get back to the movie. The weekend is almost over and I could use a nice last break before I have to go back to work."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out! Lack of motivation as usual.


	17. Red Concrete

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Improving greatly from her injuries, Aradia continues to mourn the death of her best friend and Sollux helps her grieve. Later on, she and Terezi go to see a movie together before an unfortunate confrontation with an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo sorry for the long time it took to do this, I got a little caught up in life. Anyway here's an extra long chapter to make up for my lack of activity.

     Another week had passed and the cold winter season continued to progress. Slippery ice covered the structures outside and a numbing breeze chilled homes and offices. Although the beginning of December had come into place, not everything was ready to be put to rest for the holidays. The serial murders that plagued the city had begun to die down but the case had not yet been solved, in addition to the fact that relationships still crumble and doctors need visits. Having let Terezi inhabit in their apartment for a bit longer, Aradia and Sollux had made another visit with their Doctor, Jane.

     Because of the ice covering the streets and sidewalks outside, the hospital had been crowded with more injured patients than usual. It wasn't very surprising though, considering this happened every winter. People would slip and fall and break something, cars would skid off the road and crash, the homeless would get frostbite, and most people would of course come down with the cold or flu or other contagious illnesses that would usually be common during colder weather. Luckily neither of those were the case with Aradia; for her it was nothing but a simple regular check-up and the removal of the cast on her arm.

"So how are you feeling?" Jane asked in her usual cheery tone as she entered the room.

Sitting on the bed, Aradia shrugged, of course with her good shoulder. "I'm okay. I can't wait to get cleared to stop wearing this sling."

Jane chuckled. "I bet you are. Are you still taking your medication?"

"Yeah."

"And is it still working well for you?"

"I don't know."

Sitting on one of the waiting chairs on the other side of the room, Sollux expectantly took notice of Aradia's apathy. "We both lost a good friend the day of her accident."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. While anti-depressants help you physically function better, they don't cure grief."

Aradia stayed silent as she continued to look down at her lap and nobody responded.

"Well," Jane said to break the awkward silence. "I'd like to check to make the incision from your surgery is still healing properly. Is that okay?"

     Aradia nodded and allowed for her shirt and sweater to be raised just enough to reveal her ribs, which are mildly bruised dark blue and purple nearly entirely on the left side. Although the large bruises had begun to fade away quickly, she still could not bare to look at the damage done on her body from the accident and could tell by Sollux's wince which she noticed that the bruises did not look so pleasant to him either. Accompanying her fading bruises was a red scar about 4 inches long, marking the broken rib that had been surgically repaired. The small marks around it from the staples that kept it closed (which were removed not long ago) were still visible.

"Does it still hurt when you move your back and breathe?" Jane asked after lowering her shirt back down.

Aradia nodded. "Not as much as last time but it's getting better."

"The pain usually lasts a good while, perhaps yours will go away in another week or two." She responded before writing something down on her clipboard. "And your shoulder doesn't hurt at all anymore?"

"Nope."

"Good. Let me just go ahead and take off the sling for you and I'll get the supplies for your cast ready." She said before helping remove Aradia's sling. "So how long have you two been married?"

Soon enough another moment of silence took over and filled the room.

"...What?" Aradia said, looking up from her lap. She began to question the amount of time for which she was comatose. 

"Shit." Sollux mumbled under his breath, his cheeks turning red as he remembered what he said the first day he went to visit Aradia.

"Nurse Lalonde at the front desk told me that you two are married."

"Uhhhh..." Sollux quickly tried to find his words. Aradia gave him a confused look and it only made him even more flustered.

Jane smirked. "You're not married are you?"

"Well, I--"

"Don't worry." She interrupted. "She likes to mess with people, you don't actually have to be married to see each other here." 

Sollux sighed and buried his face in his hands, receiving a chuckle from Jane. 

"I'll go get the supplies now." She said before leaving the room with the sling Aradia wore. 

As soon as the door close, Aradia gently put her hand on her recovered shoulder to feel it. "...You told her we were married?"

"Yeah." Sollux replied, embarrassed. He got up and went to sit next to her on the bed, not making eye contact. "I wasn't thinking. I was panicking and I needed to see you, I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you." Aradia smirked. "If anything, I'm flattered that you, a cop, broke a rule just to get here. It's ironic."

"Well technically I didn't break any rules because it turned out that the one I broke didn't actually exist."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

     After she got her cast removed, they got into their car and began their journey back home. Since the accident, their auto insurance company allowed them to get a rental car that they could use until they could afford a new one. Because their medical insurance covered more than half the treatment for Aradia's injuries and the accident was not her own doing, the bills were not as high as expected (but still high) and they were to receive a great amount of money as compensation for the accident but that wasn't fully determined yet. 

     During the silent car ride, Aradia flipped through photos of her and Feferi together on her cell phone which fortunately survived the crash like all her other belongings. It's a good thing she kept her purse closed unlike most people so nothing went flying out the windows. Sollux, however, stayed focused on his driving and didn't say anything. He had no idea what to say to someone else who was mourning the loss of a close friend especially if they were closer to said friend than he was but he figured it wasn't much of a problem since Aradia hadn't been very talkative anyway. She had been more responsive and less apathetic those past few weeks whenever something happened of course, and finally smiled a bit just a few times, but on her own she had still been quiet and reserved and her smiles were nothing more than small brief smirks. 

     When they got home, Aradia had a pair of crutches to help her walk on her own since she had gained usage of her shoulder (although she was advised not to do heavy lifting for a few days while her shoulder adjusted to normal movement again) and Terezi was nowhere to be found. It was not much time past 5:00pm on a Friday so Sollux guessed that something held her back in the station. As Aradia walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter to spend more time looking at photos on her phone, Sollux discovered an empty bag of potato chips lying on the uninhabited sofa. Knowing who it belonged to, he scowled.

"Any idea when Terezi would leave? I'm getting tired of cleaning up her messes." He complained as he tossed the bag into the trash. "And she's hogging up all our snacks too." 

Aradia rolled her eyes at his hypocrisy. "I told you, when she and Karkat get their relationship together. I think they're still sorting things out." 

"It's been 2 damn weeks, she should at least talk to him because obviously ignoring him isn't helping." 

"Is she avoiding him at work too?" 

"Yeah and of course Equius was willing to temporarily put her in a different department because he blames everything on people born into the lower class as if we somehow fucked up the economy. At least Feferi had the decency not to be an ass like him." 

Looking down at the floor, Aradia sighed. "Please don't use her to insult someone else." 

"Sorry." He said, calming down. "...You really miss her a lot don't you?" 

She nodded, avoided eye contact. "Of course, she's- she was my best friend." She turned around, her crutches leaning on the side of the counter next to her, so that she was also leaning against it on her side with her back turned.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

She took a deep breath, which sounded slightly shaky, before taking a moment to speak. "I'm fine, it's just..."

She turned back around to face him but still avoided making eye contact. Sollux, however, was still eager to listen to what she had to say.

"On the day before, you know... Feferi came to visit me at work when I was on break. She told me that she and Eridan were fighting and that she was scared. I wanted to do more to help her, but..." She sniffled and wiped a tear from eye.

"I wasn't there to stop Vriska from hurting Tavros. Then a few years later Feferi comes to me. I still didn't do anything and now she's dead." She continued before burying her face in her hands as more tears began to escape her eyes.

     Taken aback by what happened, Sollux just walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. It was rare for Aradia to actually cry about anything that wasn't a sad scene in movie so he was of course not completely sure what to do. He knew she enjoyed hugs from people close to her though so he figured that hugging her would help her feel better. "You didn't know what was going to happen, don't blame yourself." He said, rubbing her back as she buried her face in his neck and let out a few soft sobs. 

"I could have helped her before it was too late but she didn't let me, I should have just pushed harder." 

"No, it's not your fault she didn't let you help. I'm sure that she did it to protect you. She had her reasons and she wouldn't want her best friend blaming herself for the death that someone else chose to cause." 

After about a minute, Aradia pulled away from the hug and wiped her nose and the tears from her eyes with her hand. "Sorry for this sudden dump of emotions." She said. "I know you must be going through a hard time too."

He shook his head. "I'm not the one who still hung out with Feferi every week and nearly died in a car accident, clearly this whole thing fucked you over more than it did me. The least I can do is be actually there for you for once."

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. You don't have to coddle me all the time, I'm not a small child. And I can take care of myself just fine so you should start worrying about yourself now." He said as she had a look of doubt on her face. "Really, you're just as important to me as I am to you. Otherwise I wouldn't wanna--"

She furrowed her brow at his sudden pause. "...Wanna what?"

His cheeks began to turn red and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, nothing, forget about it. But my point is that you have to start worrying about yourself because I'm fine and you've clearly been affected by this whole thing a lot more."

"Alright." She looked down and thought for a moment before looking back up at Sollux. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead." 

"I know I try to avoid the topic of her death, but, there's one thing I need to know." She paused. "...Did Eridan kill Feferi?" 

     Sollux felt his heart race. He still wasn't sure whether to believe Eridan killed Feferi for revenge and hit Aradia by accident or whether Vriska killed Feferi for money and purposely hit Aradia. As much as he hated Eridan, he felt that it made more sense for Vriska to have committed those crimes seeing as she had a criminal record and Eridan did not. Not to mention it was confirmed that Eridan had purchased a plane ticket to Scotland before Feferi's murder so it matched the theory that he was on vacation with his family. Unsure of how to answer Aradia's question, he sighed.

"We're not completely sure." He said. "We think it was Vriska."

"...Vriska? Vriska Serket?" She repeated, receiving a sympathetic nod from Sollux. "Why would she kill Feferi? And why would she hit me? Neither of us had spoken to her in over 5 years."

"I don't know. Like I said, we aren't completely sure but Vriska is our best guess." Sollux said.

Terezi left their bedroom and entered the living room with her hair a mess and wearing her pajamas. "What's with all the noise here?" She said as she rubbed her eye.

Sollux immediately turned his head to look at Terezi. "Were you sleeping in our bed?!" He said shortly after noticing her bedhead and pajamas.

She shrugged, seeing no problem. "Yeah, so? Your mattress is a hell of a lot better than your shitty sofa."

"It's not that shitty."

"Says the person who's never sat on a better one."

Sollux sighed. "Just get back in there, I'm in the middle of something."

"Actually," She began. "I wanted to go to the theater to see a movie today. I wanted to invite Aradia to go with me since they're still showing Jurassic World." She leaned her head to the side and gave Aradia a smirk.

"Oh I've heard about that movie. I wouldn't mind seeing it." Aradia replied.

"Great!" Terezi responded as Sollux sighed and walked away. "The movie starts at 7pm so we leave in 4 hours."

     When the time came to leave, the two girls put on warm clothing to prepare for the cold weather outside. Terezi drove them to the movie theater in her car while Sollux stayed home doing his own thing, and when they arrived to the theater there were plenty of long lines in front of the ticket booths. Of course this meant there would be a long wait but as time went by the line got shorter and shorter with Terezi and Aradia at the back. Fortunately for Aradia there was a bench near the front doors so she sat down at that as she waited for Terezi so that her underarms wouldn't begin to ache from the crutches she still hadn't gotten used to. Soon enough came their turn and they went into the building to buy popcorn and snacks before they headed off to their respective room and watched the movie. 

     After the movie was over, the two had already finished all of their snacks and their soda. They exited the theater reminiscing about their favorite parts of the movie, how attractive they both found Chris Pratt's character to be, and how exciting the adventure was to watch. They went into Terezi's car to get ready to go back to Aradia's apartment before Terezi realized something and had to stop. 

"Shit, I think I left my wallet in the theater." Terezi said, feeling her pockets which were empty. 

"You should go get it before someone takes it then." Suggested Aradia. "I can wait here."

"Alright. I'll be quick." Terezi then jogged back into the building as Aradia turned the car off to save gas and closed the door, waiting in the front passenger seat.

     The parking lot was dark with the exception of the movie theater building and the few street lights around so there wasn't that much light around, especially since the car was further away from the building. As Aradia waited, she looked around out the windows and noticed a strange figure walking past the back of the car away from the building. She noticed that the mysterious person who wore a dark jacket had dropped their cell phone onto the pavement without realizing it so Aradia carefully stepped exited the car with her crutches and went over to pick up the cell phone. She looked in the direction of the random person walking away.

"Excuse me," she called out. "You dropped your phone."

Immediately the figure stopped but didn't turn around.

"Don't you need it?" Aradia said, wondering who this person could be.

The figure slowly turned around and walked toward her before stretching out their hand to snatch their phone back. The light wasn't very bright but it still helped Aradia notice a familiar face on the stranger.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Aradia asked with curiosity.

"...No." Came a familiar female voice. The girl had a sour attitude but her face had caution written all over it. 

"Wait, yeah I do." Aradia said, hurriedly taking a step backward. "Vriska? What are you doing here?"

Oh of course, the strange mysterious figure is none other than Vriska. "How the fuck do you know my name? I don't even know who you are." She interrogated.

"It's me, Aradia. We used to go to school together." Aradia replied. "I'm the girl you would make fun of, we used to roleplay together before you pushed Tavros off a cliff. I'm also the cashier you yelled at at the café a few weeks ago."

"Aradia? Megido? Holy shit." Vriska had an unimpressed look on her face. "Looks like you finally grew a few inches taller."

Aradia shook her head. "Don't change the subject. Your face is all over the news, the police are looking for you."

"What? I need to go right now." Vriska said taking a step backward.

"You're not going anywhere!" Aradia took a step forward. "I need to ask you something."

"Look I know you're probably still mad at me for all the shit I've done to you all those years ago, I'm sorry for that. Just don't turn me in to the cops, I can't go to jail." Vriska insisted, maintaining her sour attitude.

"I don't care about that." Aradia declared, earning a surprised but suspicious look from Vriska. "Did you kill Feferi?"

"What? Are you an undercover cop or something?" Vriska asked skeptically.

"Answer me or I _will_ turn you in." Aradia ordered more sternly. She however merely had a look of grief on her face which was not one bit intimidating.

Vriska just stared at her with an offended look. "Oh really now?" She said before slowly taking out a pistol from the opening of her jacket. "I'm trying to be nice but you don't want to piss me off. I'm giving you one last chance to leave me alone."

Her heart nearly stopping, Aradia looked down at the pistol which Vriska kept lowered, and then looked back up at her. "I don't want any trouble." She said. "I just want to know if you're the person who killed my best friend."

Vriska had a confused look on her face. "I'm not answering any of your ridiculous questions so you better leave me the fuck alone."

"I'm not giving you an option, I need to know what happened." Aradia demanded.

"Well listen here, Megido, I'm giving _you_ an option." Vriska said, raising her gun to aim at Aradia. "Either we part ways and you forget you saw me, or I'll make it so that you don't _live_ to remember this."

     The two former childhood friends stood alone in the cold parking lot, staring at one another with cautious eyes of which each pair hid different stories. Aradia, still supporting herself on her crutches, slowly raised her hands to signify her offer for peace as Vriska waited for a response. Although she had passive intentions, her malevolent instincts had stuck with Vriska and they were all too familiar with Aradia. In front of her stood the girl who teased her, bullied her friends, paralyzed one of her best, and potentially murdered another. And in front of Vriska stood the girl who maintained her innocence and the kindness of her heart, which had ended up broken in half with the loss of a close friend. The two may have been close in the past, but that past had ceased to exist as long a future was being threatened.

"HEY!" Shouted Terezi as she approached the girls in a hurry.

And in just less than a second, a loud gunshot erupted before blood hit the concrete and the body collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I actually have no idea how insurance works so please don't jump at me if what I put is inaccurate. I only know the experience of a car accident itself, not the financial and legal aftermath. And as for the medical stuff, I'm just going off of what I know from TV. Oops.


	18. Somebody To Go Home To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the visit to the emergency room after the conundrum, things that were hoped to be sorted out were put to an end surrounding the stress caused by the case.

     The scene became silent as everyone stood in shock. Only the sound of the cold breeze blowing balled up pieces of paper and candy wrappers across the dark street was present as the three girls took in what had just happened. Terezi turned her head momentarily to see numerous people standing outside the front of the theater building to observe the scene; some were on their cell phones, presumably calling the police or their loved ones. It was already easy to assume that at least one person would call an ambulance as usual during a situation like this so she didn't even bother to take out her cell phone to call one herself. 

     With a small puff of smoke still rising out of the hot barrel, Terezi lowered her gun and watched as Vriska fell to the ground with blood pouring out of the gunshot wound in the middle of her abdomen. She stuffed her gun back into the pocket inside her jacket and kneeled down beside Vriska, who had her hands on her wound and groaned in pain with shallow breaths. Terezi was initially surprised to even see Vriska again considering they had not spoken in half a decade but at the same time she was not surprised that Vriska still would have gotten herself into trouble whether or not provoked. She was always a delinquent, a rebel, and always showed defiance to anything that displeased her and Terezi always knew that it would eventually lead her to big trouble with the law sometime in her future. 

"Are you okay?" Terezi said as she took the pistol that lied on the ground. 

"No, you just, f-fucking _shot_ me!" Vriska remarked. 

"I wasn't talking to you." 

Aradia just stood there staring, unsure of what to do. "I, uh... I'm okay. Thanks." 

Vriska raised her header from the ground. "...Terezi? Jeez, I didn't expect a, a full reunion tonight." 

"Oh be quiet, you." Terezi looked over at Aradia. "What the hell happened out here?" 

"She walked by and dropped her phone so I picked it up. I didn't recognize who she was until I gave her her phone back. When I found out who she was asked her if she was the one who killed Feferi but she refused to tell me." 

"Yeah, you didn't have to, fucking get me sh- _shot_." Vriska coughed. "This seriously hurts." 

"Well then maybe you should have thought about that before you pointed the gun at me." Terezi said as she rolled up her sleeves and used her hands to put pressure on Vriska's wound. 

" _You_ pointed yours at _me_ , I panicked!" 

"Because you were about to shoot my friend. This wouldn't have happened if you had kept your gun put away." 

"But--" 

"Just shut up if you don't want your condition to get any worse. That's assuming the paramedics even get here in time before either your diaphragm gives out and you suffocate to death or you just bleed out." 

With that, Vriska hesitantly went silent.

"Aradia," Terezi continued. "Could you call Sollux and tell him to meet us here with my badge? I don't want the cops that are on their way here to think I'm a murderer if they're not anyone we know." 

"What about Karkat? He'll hear about this, word gets around fast." Aradia suggested, hoping her two friends would make up soon. 

Terezi sighed and thought for a moment, keeping her head down. "...Fine." 

     Aradia turned around and took her cell phone from one of the back pockets of her dark gray jeans, unwilling to look at all the blood and the pained Vriska on the street. As the sound of ambulance sirens became audible from a short distance, she proceeded to call Sollux and Karkat to have them meet with her and Terezi. Although Karkat said he would run a little late and would meet them at the hospital, Sollux got there just a few minutes after the ambulance and police arrived. He managed to bring Terezi's badge and a few other things to confirm Terezi's occupation with the law enforcement before she was nearly arrested for assault. Of course he was worried and freaking out considering his girlfriend was almost murdered and his other friend shot someone, but it was somewhat easy to convince him to calm down.

     After the ambulance and other cops left, Terezi, Aradia, and Sollux went to the hospital to follow. When they got there they sat in the waiting room in hopes of waiting for when Vriska was stable enough to be questioned that night. They had been told by doctors that she would need to go into surgery to have the bullet removed and her injuries treated so it would take a few hours. After around 15 minutes, however, Karkat had arrived to meet the three friends in the waiting room. Terezi did not seem very happy with his arrival and this just confused Sollux and Aradia even more about their relationship. Not only was she unhappy with his arrival but she did not even bother to greet him or look at him for that matter as could be told from the expression she held. 

"Okay so what is this about somebody getting fucking _shot_?" Karkat exclaimed as he walked through the door. 

"Aradia found Vriska who pretty much almost shot her but Terezi saved her ass and shot Vriska before she could do anything. She's in surgery right now." Sollux said. Terezi didn't want to talk to Karkat and Aradia felt too guilty to say anything so he decided to be the one to explain what happened. 

"So once she's done you guys are going to question her?" Karkat replied with a doubtful tone. 

"We'll try. Why did you reply with a doubtful tone?" 

"Well knowing Vriska, I'm not too sure she'll be willing to give up all the information we need." 

"Shit, that's right." Sollux shook his head in disappointment. 

Karkat looked beside him and saw Terezi, who sat in the chair next to Aradia. "Can we talk?" He said calmly as he approached her. 

Not looking up or making eye contact, Terezi crossed her arms and leaned back. "About what?" 

"About _us_! You have barely spoken to me in two weeks. Are we still even together?" 

Terezi just sunk further into her seat, hesitant to say anything. 

"At least say something. I want to make things right between us." 

Terezi sat silently for a few seconds. "Fine." She said before getting up and walking toward the door. 

"Wait where are you going?" Karkat turned around to face her. 

Terezi stopped. "Outside. You wanted to talk right? So we'll talk. But we're not gonna drag them into it." She gestured toward Sollux and Aradia who watched them closely. 

"Fine." Karkat said before he followed her out the door.

     She led him outside to the front of the hospital building where the concrete was slippery with a thin layer of ice underneath the roof of the entrance. As they left, Aradia stood up from her chair using her crutches for support. 

"I hope they can work things out between them." She said as she kept her eyes on the clear double glass doors. 

"At least she's finally talking to him. Maybe soon she'll _finally_ move out of our apartment." Sollux shrugged before getting elbowed in the side. "Ow! What did I say?" 

"She's our friend and she's helping us pay our bills. We have to support her, not pressure her to just get out. I think she's already had enough of Karkat yelling at her." 

"But I'm not yelling at her or even mentioning it to her. What she doesn't know can't hurt, right?" 

"Mhm." Aradia rolled her eyes. 

"Hasn't she ever annoyed you too in the slightest? I mean she broke your Indiana Jones DVD when she stepped on it." 

Aradia turned around to face him. "That was an accident. And at least I didn't throw a tantrum when she ate all my Honey Nut Cheerios." She smirked before turning back around to face the door. 

"Okay we don't talk about that, that was my favorite cereal. Now you're just being unfair." 

"Oh I'm being unfair? Sure, whatever you say." She said sarcastically with an amused smile. 

"Well I still think she should go, she had two weeks. Besides," He walked up to her and gently hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and lowering his voice. "We never get any time to ourselves anymore and we can't exactly spend any at home if she's there and stealing our bed."

"Okay." She said with a laugh, wriggling out of his grip and turning around to face him after he planted a kiss on the side of her neck. "First of all, we're in public and there are people around. Second of all, even if she weren't living with us it's not like I can move around much seeing as I am in crutches."

Sollux opened his mouth to say something before Karkat suddenly walked back into the room.

"What happened?" Sollux asked. "And where's Terezi?"

Karkat sighed with a gloomy expression on his face. "She broke up with me and went back to wherever the hell she's been staying."

"Well shit. Sorry about that."

"Whatever. Is there any news on Vriska?"

"No."

Karkat sat down on one of the chairs. "I guess I'll wait then."

Sollux raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean _you'll_ wait?"

"Just go home, both of you. I'll deal with Vriska when she wakes up, it's not like I have anything better to do tonight."

"No, she's my business too!"

Karkat stood up and walked over to Sollux. "I know what I'm doing."

"She fucking murdered Feferi and tried to kill Aradia, there is no way in hell I am just letting that go." Sollux growled.

"Sollux please, let's just go home." Aradia suggested softly.

"Okay you know what? Just hear me out before I lose my patience." Karkat crossed his arms, refusing to back off. "First of all, don't start yelling at me because _I am not in the mood_. Second of all, I fucked up my relationship with Terezi because I focused too much on the case and I let that get in the way of us so I'm not going to sit back and watch you start doing the same thing I did. I know Vriska killed Feferi, and it fucking sucks, but that's in the past. You may have lost an old friend but your girlfriend is still alive and breathing and standing right next to you, and I can tell by the look on her face that she's pretty exhausted by all this shit that's been happening." 

Aradia just looked down at her feet with agreement but also guilt. 

"I know you want to kick Vriska's ass," Karkat continued. "But I can kick it myself for you."

"...Why are you so concerned for our relationship all of a sudden?" Sollux said with confusion but more calmly.

"Because you're my best friend and you still have somebody to go home to every night."

"I'm sorry about what happened with you and Terezi." Aradia said to break the brief silence that ensued.

Karkat sighed, looking down at his feet. "I know. Just go." He said before turning around and walking back toward his chair to sit down.

After watching Karkat walk away, Sollux turned to face Aradia. "Sorry for lashing out like that." He said. "And for being inconsiderate."

Aradia gave a small smile. "It's fine. Let's just go home."

     With that, the two left the hospital to head for Sollux's car. Terezi had already used her own car to drive back to their apartment and Karkat's remained in the parking lot so Sollux's car was the only vehicle they could use to get back home. When they arrived at their apartment, the room was dark and quiet. They saw that Terezi had already fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room, where she always slept during their stay, underneath her favorite red blanket. The two quietly walked into their bedroom to change into their pajamas, and they did it quickly too considering it was December and freezing. They climbed into bed and reveled in the warmth of the thick layers of blankets they had, and lied in each others arms before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I finally managed to finish this chapter in less than a week! It's a new record. Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of cliffhangers so I worked on this as quickly as possible so you guys knew what happened. Not to mention I actually had ideas for once which says a lot considering my very frequent writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	19. Lawful Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose accompanies Karkat and Sollux as the three of them investigate the case by paying Vriska a visit in the hospital.

     The next morning was bright and quiet. The bright sunlight shown from the windows and the snow continued to fall lightly onto the window sills. The police department was not as crowded as usual since some of the workers had fallen sick with the common cold or the flu and had to stay home to recover. Luckily, Karkat was still feeling well and so were Sollux, Terezi, and Rose. John had returned to work since he was able to recover fully although the gunshot his shoulder suffered caused minor nerve damage which in turn led to a small and temporary loss of coordination in his right arm. Luckily for him, however, John was left-handed so he could still easily perform most tasks as he usually could.

     As was told to Sollux in the morning before they left for work together in Terezi's car, Terezi had went back to working at her usual office in the building and had agreed to continue contact with Karkat as long as it remained professional and related to their jobs as law enforcement officers. She had agreed to stay with Sollux and Aradia in their apartment for one more week while she prepared to move out of Karkat's house and searched for her own apartment to stay in. She was able to get financial assistance from her mother, who was wealthy as she was one of the top attorneys in the country, so she was hopeful that she would find her own house not too long after renting an apartment for a short amount of time.

"So you caught Vriska? Last night?" Rose asked in disbelief as she and the others sat in the conference room.

"Yeah." Terezi replied. "Aradia and I went to the movies last night. When we went outside, I realized I forgot my wallet so I went back in but when I went back out I saw Aradia talking to someone who had a gun pointed at her. Of course I ran over to defend her and raised my gun toward that someone and once they saw me, they panicked and raised their gun at me but I shot them before they could shoot me. I didn't know it was Vriska until I went to help Aradia."

"And you said Aradia was talking to her?"

"Yeah. She said she saw Vriska walk by and drop her phone so Aradia went to pick it up and give it back but didn't realize the girl was Vriska until then. Aradia started to ask her about Feferi and she refused to tell her."

"You're usually all excited about justice and stuff, why aren't you happy now?" John butted in.

Terezi stayed silent and Karkat looked away.

Sollux sighed. "She and Karkat broke up last night."

"...Oh." John leaned backward in his chair.

"Sorry that happened to you, Karkat." Rose said, expressing her sympathy.

"Can we just get on with this discussion?" Karkat snapped, crossing his arms.

"Fine. Anyway," Rose continued. "Has Vriska been questioned in the hospital?"

"No. I waited until the doctors finished with her surgery but they told me that she had to recover in post-op so I would have to visit another time. I'll go back today to see if they'll let me do my job this time." He responded before turning his head to look at Sollux. "You can come too if you still want to."

"...Yeah I guess I'll go with you. But only because you didn't kick her ass for me like you said you would." Sollux responded with a smirk.

"And just in case you two decide to get a little too personal with her," Rose added. "I will be accompanying you."

"What? We don't need a babysitter."

"I think you do."

Unwilling to even argue with her, Karkat and Sollux gave each other looks of confusion before shrugging with hesitant agreement.

Rose smiled triumphantly before proceeding to look down at her phone, prompting John to scoot closer to her in seat and look at what she was doing. Immediately Rose sighed and looked up at him with a questioning look on her face.

"Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"...You forgot your lunch?" He said, taking a moment to continue looking at her screen before backing off.

"Yes. I got caught up in something at home and left in a hurry. Fortunately Kanaya has the time to bring it here since she just finished doing her rounds in the hospital."

"Wait," Sollux interrupted. "She's coming here now?"

"That's basically what I just said." Rose replied.

"Good. I have to talk to her about something."

Rose paused to look him up and down. "...Are you feeling ill?"

"What? No. It's personal shit, I don't need you sticking your nose in my business."

"I merely asked a simple question, there's no need to be so defensive." She shrugged and rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair.

"OKAY," Karkat blurted out. "Before we start kicking each other's asses over nothing, we should probably get a search warrant for Vriska's house now that she's in custody."

"Are you sure we're looking in the right places? What makes you think Vriska is even the one who killed all these people?" John inquired. "Eridan is the one missing from the scene, talk about a hell of a coincidence."

Terezi leaned forward in her chair. "The victims have 8 stab wounds, they were all robbed of something valuable right around the times of their murders, she has a long history of criminal activity, and she tried to kill Aradia. Eridan has a clean criminal record and is on a family vacation in Scotland, and even if he weren't, we're a _local_ police station. It's not like we have the authority to fly over there to get him ourselves."

"John I know you want defend your ex-girlfriend but you have to trust us, we know she's involved in all these serial killings." Rose said.

"I'm not--" John tried before Karkat's phone began to ring.

Removing it from his pocket, he answered the call to have a short discussion before putting it away. "The hospital just called, Vriska is awake and stable enough for questioning." He announced.

Sollux let out a sigh of relief and stood up. "Okay let's go."

With that, Rose stood up and the three of them left the room to go to the front office where they checked out.

"Whelp, I guess it's just you me." John said to Terezi.

Terezi took out her cell phone. "I'll call a judge for the warrant."

     As Rose and the others reached the main front office, before they could leave, the door opened and in walked Kanaya wearing layers of warm clothes. The wind blew a small amount of snow inside before she closed the door, fixing her hair frantically as she caught her breath. "I don't believe that storm will be departing shortly." She complained as she fixed her wardrobe, carrying a roomy handbag on one arm and a cup of hot coffee in the opposite hand. 

"Storm?" Karkat repeated, a look of confusion spreading across his face. 

"Yes, the weather forecast predicted a blizzard to pass in about a week or two. I'm assuming you didn't notice or bother to watch the news." She responded. 

"We've been preparing by buying firewood for our fireplace and some candles." Rose added. "Power outages might occur." 

"Shit, I had no idea. I was wondering why it was snowing more than usual today." Sollux responded. 

"Do none of you watch the news? They can be very helpful you know." Kanaya questioned. 

"Psh." Karkat mocked. "If anything they're boring as hell. It gets fucking tiring hearing nothing but useless shit that goes on 24/7." 

"Whatever you say." Rose rolled her eyes before walking over to Kanaya. "Do you have my lunch?" 

"Oh, of course." Kanaya responded as she reached into her handbag to pull out a brown paper bag full of lunch. "Here you are." 

"Thank you." Rose took the bag. "I hope I didn't take up too much of your valuable time." 

"No, not at all. Today is a slow work day so I'm sure I'm not missing anything too important." She looked at her watch. "But even then I should get going before I do miss an important situation or something of the sort." 

"As do I. Karkat and Sollux and I were just about to question a suspect we recently gained custody of and unfortunately I feel the need to make sure they don't lose their temper and do anything irrational." Rose complained. 

"Oh my God..." Karkat muttered under his breath, winning an expectant smirk from Kanaya. 

"How unsurprising." She responded before turning toward the door. "Well I'll see you later." 

"Wait!" Sollux blurted out, running after Kanaya before she could leave. "I need your advice on something." 

"What is it?" She stopped to face him. 

He looked at Karkat and Rose behind him before turning back to face Kanaya. "...In private." 

Receiving an awkward glance from Karkat after Rose left briefly to put her lunch away, Sollux grabbed Kanaya's arm and pulled her behind a corner. 

"What is this about?" Kanaya asked, slightly uncomfortable by the sudden drag. 

"It's about me and Aradia. As in, our relationship." Sollux said, trying to be quiet so that Rose and Karkat couldn't hear. 

Kanaya sighed. "I hope your relationship isn't failing just like Karkat's did." 

"No, it's not. Or at least I hope it isn't. I just need advice on..." He rubbed his forehead and struggled to find his words. "Fuck, I don't know how to say this without sounding like an idiot." 

"Sollux my time is limited." 

"Okay okay, just..." He said. "So you and Rose. You're..." 

"Engaged? Yes." She replied. 

"How did you--" Sollux began before being interrupted by Karkat. 

"SOLLUX HURRY THE FUCK UP, WE HAVE TO GO!" 

"I swear to God I'm going to punch him in the throat someday." Sollux mumbled. 

     Kanaya gave him a knowing smile and gave him a brief pat on the shoulder. "I can't tell you how I did it. That's for you to do on your own." She said before taking a sip of her coffee and leaving. Watching her leave, Sollux just stood still in confusion before Karkat impatiently grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the building. "What was it that you two were discussing?" Rose asked curiously as she followed the two outside. 

"It's nothing." He said. 

     Shortly after Kanaya left, the rest followed and drove toward the community hospital in Rose's police cruiser. The trip took nearly an hour as the hospital was not very close in distance and the traffic seemed to be slow at the time, and the longer the journey got the worse the traffic seemed to be getting. Snow fell heavily upon the windshield and windows of the car, and the road was icy so anybody on the roads had to be sure to drive slower and more carefully. Of course not everybody has the patience to take that safety precaution so car accidents during the winter were to expected especially around the holidays when people rushed to buy gifts and party supplies. 

     Soon enough their destination was reached as Rose pulled into the parking lot and the others followed her into the hospital. Roxy was sitting behind the reception desk as per usual so her distracting Rose with meaningless conversations did waste a bit of time. But of course Rose had her ways in getting out of things and was able to quickly get the number for the room in which Vriska stayed. The hallways seemed crowded with doctors and nurses as the emergency room had been swarmed with injured people, but the halls became less crowded as the three navigated further into the other area. 

     Eventually they made it to their destination and entered Vriska's room to find her lying in her bed, connected to a heart monitor and an IV bag that stood by her bedside. Her wrists were handcuffed to the rails of her bed so that she could not escape (unless she had to for medical reasons) and there was nothing but the TV high up on the wall to keep her entertained. It's not like it worked very well anyway. 

"Ohhhhhhhh great," She groaned as soon as she saw the officers enter the room. "Let me guess, you're here to question me, about what happened last night in the parking lot." 

"Wow, look who's good at guessing games." Karkat said with sarcasm. "Congratulations, do you want a cookie?" 

"Karkat we're here to do our job and get answers," Rose warned. "Not to belittle her. Of course unless necessary." 

Vriska rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What do you want to know?" 

"Well you're being surprisingly cooperative." Rose pointed out, raising an eyebrow. 

"That's only because, I'm in a shit ton of pain right now, and I want to get this over with." She sneered, breathing shallowly. 

"Fine. We'll go easy on you then." Rose responded. Sollux and Karkat merely leaned against the wall next to the door while Rose intently stood closer to the bed. 

"So," She continued. "Surely you are aware of the string of murders that had been happening in the previous month." 

"The news reporters talk about it all the damn time. Of course I'd be aware."

"Good. And I'm sure you're wondering why you're a suspect for this case." 

"Whatever floats your boat." 

Rose pulled up a chair and sat down on it, facing Vriska and leaning forward. "You know what I absolutely can _not_ resist wondering about this case?" 

"What?" Vriska said, a clear hint of boredom and irritation audible in her voice. 

"Every single victim had been stabbed exactly 8 times. That seems to be a very special number, a number that I and a number of others have always associated with you." 

"...You think I killed those people." 

"We _know_ you killed those people." Karkat blurted out before being shushed by Rose. 

"Yes," Rose continued. "And we know that you have a long history of criminal activity." 

"You know, just because I happen to like a number, that doesn't mean I killed a bunch of people." 

"A bunch? You don't seem to be denying killing anybody at all." 

Struggling to find her words, Vriska didn't give a response. Her heart monitor, however, began to beep a bit faster. 

"Let's not forget your little attempt to shoot a friend last night." 

"Who, Aradia? I wouldn't have tried to hurt her, if she would have just left. But she deserved what she would have gotten." 

"She doesn't deserve to get fucking shot for wanting closure on her best friend's murder." Sollux argued defensively, taking a step away from the wall against which he leaned. 

"Why do you even bother defending her?" Vriska teased. "She's in crutches, it doesn't seem like you do a good job." 

"Shut up." 

"What even happened to her anyway? Did she have trouble minding her own business? How typical, she never seems to learn." 

"I said shut the fuck up!" 

"Hey, calm down!" Karkat said, holding Sollux back from trying to get to Vriska. "Maybe bringing you here wasn't actually a good idea." 

"I'm not going to just stand here and listen to her talking shit about my girlfriend like that!" Sollux contended in response. 

"Girlfriend?" Vriska repeated. "Wow, I knew you two had a thing for each other, back in high school, but I never thought you'd actually get together. How surprising."

"She's just pushing your buttons." Karkat spun him around and began pushing him out the door. "Clearly you can't be around her right now." 

Hesitant to leave, Sollux struggled. "If you try to hurt her again I'll make you wish you were fucking DEAD!" He threatened before Karkat finally led him out. 

"Okay first of all, as much as I support what you just said to her, I wouldn't say something like that again unless you want to lose your job. Second of all, she doesn't know anything about what happened to Aradia so she can't say shit." 

"Yeah but..." Sollux paused. "Wait, say that again." 

"...She can't say shit?" 

"No no, before that." 

"She doesn't know anything about what happened to Aradia." Karkat repeated. "Where the fuck are you going with this?" 

"If she doesn't know about the car accident then how could she have caused it?" Sollux questioned. 

Karkat had an expression of realization on his face. "Holy shit. Vriska isn't the one who drove the car that hit Aradia is she?" 

"As much as I hate the thought of it, she probably actually isn't." 

"And if she didn't drive that car, she isn't the one who killed Feferi either." 

"Now wait," Sollux interrupted. "We still don't know that the car that hit Aradia is the same one that came from Feferi's house. The car's license plate was covered so we couldn't identify it." 

"You dumbass, neither of the cars from the scenes had a license plate and they were the same exact model and color. I can almost guarantee you that it's the same car." 

"Okay so it is the same car. But if Vriska didn't kill Feferi, that doesn't mean she didn't kill all those other people. Feferi's case could be completely separate from what we've been trying to solve and if that's true then Feferi's murder could be personal." 

"And if it was personal then there's only one person who could have a real motivation to kill her." 

"...We need to make a trip to the airport. I don't think Eridan ever boarded that plane to Scotland." 

     Before either could say another word, Rose exited the room and met the two in the hallway. By the look on her face she didn't seem to have gotten any success from the interrogation on her however she did hold a pensive expression. 

"What did you find out?" Karkat asked. 

"Well she is certainly denying the murders of all the people including Feferi." She replied. "However she did make convincing points." 

The others looked at each other with questioning looks on their faces before looking back at her. 

"The victims were attacked using knives but Vriska attacked Aradia with a gun. Then she pointed out that the killings seemed to have stopped weeks ago, before Feferi's murder, and told us that we've been looking in all the wrong places." 

"...What the fuck?" Karkat muttered. 

"Yes, 'what the fuck' is correct." Rose said. "Vriska is not the serial killer." 


	20. Back In Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia revisits memories briefly as she continues to mourn the loss of her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure what else to write about so I decided to write chapter maybe adding a bit of development to Aradia and Feferi's relationship before Fef died, whoops. I know I'm not doing a good job but oh well.

     Silence surrounded the scene, and darkness was everywhere. There was nothing but the smell of fresh paper when voices began to fill in the lack of noise that was previously present. They weren't those voices one would occasionally hear in the back of their head, but actual voices. Voices of a crowd of people in the vicinity, which was weird because Aradia was in her apartment as usual. Were there people in there with her? And why was it so dark? It didn't become any more clear until voices approached and became louder. 

     This was when she awakened and raised her head off her desk and looked around. Wait, desk? When she looked around, she realized she wasn't in her apartment. She seemed to be in a classroom which looked vaguely familiar. She was sitting at a singular desk against a basic white wall and was surrounded by a large group of occupied desks to her left. There were teenagers around her talking and yelling and laughing and rough-housing. 

     She looked down to discover herself wearing a knitted light beige sweater with a maroon skirt going down to just a few inches above her knees over a pair of black tights. Sitting against the leg of her desk adjacent to her white-laced black sneakers was her plain red backpack which appeared to be zipped halfway open and had a sheet of paper sticking out of the opening. 

"Hey give that back!" Came a distressed voice before something went flying right into her face. 

Flinching at the sudden impact, she grabbed the pair of ear buds which fell onto her lap. Not having a chance to react, she lifted them up and immediately a hand snatched them from her grip. 

"Thanks, Sleeping Beauty." Vriska said with a sarcastic smile before turning around and walking away. 

     Aradia watched as she went over to torture an able-bodied Tavros who persistently protested her actions. She continued to look around, confused. "Uhhh...."

"Someone didn't get much sleep last night did she?" Feferi said as she sat down at the desk behind Aradia's with a cup of coffee in her hand. 

     At this moment, she was too surprised to say anything. Feferi had been dead for a few weeks and yet there was, completely alive. Aradia didn't realize she had been staring until Feferi waved her hand in front of her face. 

"Are you okay?" She said, her smile fading to a smirk. 

Aradia blinked. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, just tired." 

"I can _sea_ that." She giggled at her own fish pun. "Did you study all night?" 

"Study for what?" 

"The test, silly! You know, the one we've been reviewing for this whole week?" 

"Oh," Aradia still knew nothing about a test. "Right, I remember." 

Feferi took out a sheet of paper that had things written all over it and gave it to Aradia. "Thanks for letting me borrow your notes." She said with a graceful smile. "Unfortunately I'm not a history buff like you are." 

"N-no problem." Aradia stuttered, still having a hard time processing whatever was going on.

     She wanted information so she looked down at the paper she was given to look at the date. On the corner of the paper was written "September 1, 2008". This started to make sense to her; she was in 9th grade and was about to take a history test about World War 2, which was conveniently assigned on the 63rd anniversary of the ending of the war: September 2, 2008. History was always her favorite school subject so she enjoyed attending the class but that day was different. 

"I, uh, I have to go to the bathroom." Aradia said before she quickly got up out of her seat.

     She immediately left the classroom and hurriedly walked through the semi-empty halls toward the girls' bathroom. At this point she looked in the mirror above the sinks and took her time to digest what was happening around her. She was shorter than she remembered being and looked a lot younger as well. Her hair wasn't as long as it was; it used to be down to her lower back but then it was down to her mid back. She also appeared skinnier than she remembered and barely had her curves. Of course she had just gotten out of middle school so she was still going through the dreadful stages of puberty, which explained why her voice sounded childish just like everyone else's around her.

     She remembered how she had just saw Tavros walking and how Vriska wore her weird dark makeup that she wore in high school. Feferi still used fish puns whenever she spoke and she looked very young as well. She leaned over the sink with a feeling of nausea, struggling to digest the whole situation. She soaked her hands in the tap water from the faucet in front her and rubbed the cold water on her face, fighting back the urge to cry considering she had just saw her dead best friend.

     She took a bundle of paper towels and pressed them against her face, thankful she hadn't started wearing makeup yet at that time so she didn't have to worry about smearing anything all over her face. She hadn't realized how shaky her hands had been until she felt her cell phone vibrate in her back pocket. Wait, skirts had back pockets? She lifted her skirt and saw a pair of shorts. That's right, she always wore secret shorts underneath her skirts ever since the first time someone looked under in 8th grade. Unfortunately it was a world full of creeps so she could never be too careful. 

     She took her red flip phone out of her back pocket and opened it up to see that Sollux had been messaging her on Pesterchum. Remembering that they were not yet dating at this time, she made a mental note reminding her not to make any references to their relationship. She sincerely hoped that whatever was happening wasn't permanent. 

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA] \--  
TA: aa are you there?  
TA: ii need help wiith 2omethiing.  
TA: ii know you're probably bu2y wiith 2omethiing riight now but ii gue22 me22age me back a2ap when you get thii2.  
AA: what is it?  
TA: wow, took you long enough.  
AA: sorry i fell asleep in class  
TA: what happened two the zero2 you u2ually type?  
AA: 0h! i f0rg0t i still type th0se haha s0rry  
TA: um... ok?  
AA: s0 what is it that y0u need help with  
TA: you know what, nevermiind. iit'2 really fuckiing embarra22iing.  
AA: its pr0bably n0t as embarrassing as the shirt y0ure wearing  
TA: wow thank2.  
TA: don't you have that hii2tory te2t two take?  
AA: yes but that can wait  
AA: just tell me what y0u need help with!  
AA: i want t0 help  
TA: ugh fiine!  
TA: 2o ff and ii are goiing on our fiir2t date twoday after 2chool.  
AA: y0u tw0 are dating?  
TA: aradiia we've been datiing for liike a week now. ii even told you about iit the day we fiir2t 2tarted.  
TA: where the fuck have you been, do you have amne2iia or 2omethiing??  
AA: n0! im just really tired because i didnt get much sleep last night  
AA: s0 what ab0ut your date with feferi?  
TA: ok. well the thiing ii2, ii've never been on an actual date wiith anyone before.  
AA: and y0ure asking me f0r dating advice?  
AA: did y0u try asking karkat 0r kanaya  
TA: ye2 and no. kk would ju2t make fun of me liike the 2ack of 2hiit that he ii2 and kn ii2 two bu2y hangiing out wiith her giirlfriiend ro2e.  
AA: 0h 0k  
AA: well im n0t much 0f a r0mance expert myself s0 im afraid i d0nt kn0w what t0 tell y0u  
TA: but you 2aiid you want two help, youre not beiing two helpful riight now.  
AA: yeah but i didnt kn0w this is what y0u needed help with!  
TA: ju2t tell me 2OMETHIING.  
TA: plea2e, ii'm nervou2 a2 fuck. ii don't want two fuck thii2 up.  
AA: 0k uh  
AA: d0nt try t00 hard and just be y0urself  
AA: n0t every relati0nship w0rks 0ut the way it sh0uld and thats 0k  
AA: but im sure y0ull d0 great!  
TA: ok thank2.  
AA: y0ure welcome  
AA: g00d luck i guess  
TA: you gue22? are you not ok wiith thii2?  
AA: n0 n0 i am  
AA: its just s0 weird seeing y0u gr0w up s0 fast haha  
TA: you're actiing liike my mom, a2 iif ii even have one.  
AA: ugh nevermind  
AA: i have t0 get back t0 class n0w before my teacher starts w0ndering where i am  
AA: have fun with y0ur date :D  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering twinArmageddons [TA] \--

\-- cuttlefishCuller [CC] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA] \--  
CC: Aradia are you okay?  
CC: You didn't seem too )(appy w)(en you left t)(e classroom like t)(at. 38(   
AA: yeah im fine  
AA: s0rry ive just been feeling s0rta sick lately  
CC: Is it t)(e test? I can ask the teac)(er to pus)( it to next week.  
AA: n0 its n0t that!  
AA: i think i just ate s0mething bad this m0rning  
CC: O)( no! That's not reely good.  
CC: You s)(ould )(urry up t)(oug)(, t)(e teacher is wondering w)(y you )(aven't come back yet.  
CC: S)(e wants to )(ave us start t)(e test already.  
AA: 0k tell her im 0n my way  
CC: S)(ore t)(ing!  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] \--

     After taking a deep breath and putting her phone back into her pocket, Aradia turned around and leaned against the counter. She looked down at the floor, thinking about the fact that Sollux was dating Feferi. She knew this was something that happened at that time and, assuming this was a permanent situation, she knew that eventually they would break up and she would start dating Sollux instead in the next few years. However Aradia definitely did not want to start over. Not to mention it was stressful enough seeing her dead best friend alive again so she didn't need to see her dating her boyfriend in front of her eyes. It's not that she was angry with Feferi of course, it was just that the timing was absolutely terrible. If she wanted things to end up the same though, she would have to act normal and do everything she did before. Not that remembering the entire 5 years of it would be possible. Maybe if she banged her head against the wall multiple times she would have woken up. This had to have been a dream, right? 

     Instead of banging her head against a wall, which would have been absolutely stupid, she eventually walked out of the bathroom feeling nervous. But instead of the hallway she'd seen before she walked in, it was different. Not completely, but the walls were a different color and the lockers looked newer. There were different posters and the hall was crowded with loud students. That would have been impossible, Aradia left the classroom in the middle of the period so it couldn't have ended already. It wasn't until she walked that she noticed she was wearing something else. She wore a red coat over a pair of black jeans with gray winter boots and everyone else wore heavy winter clothing. Wasn't it only September? Luckily there was a calendar very conveniently placed on the wall just near her so Aradia hurried over to it to check the date. It read 'December 9, 2010'. This was her junior year so she wasn't a freshman anymore. The sudden time change made it easier for her to notice how much taller and heavier she got in the past two years, except it literally felt more like 2 milliseconds. 

     Looking around at the crowd of unfamiliar people, she began to wonder about the conversations she previously had with Sollux and Feferi. She wanted to guess that they were still going on their date that day but seeing as how 2 years had already passed it was even safer for her to guess that they had already broken up by then. In fact, this exact time was exactly a week before she herself and Sollux began dating. Suddenly getting back together with her loved one even though they never broke up felt weird for her, but she had other things on her mind. She wanted to find Feferi but wasn't sure where to look. All she knew was that she always attended the same high school with Aradia so she had to have still gone there. The only problem was that Aradia didn't remember December 8 being a special date so she had no idea if Feferi was present on this exact day. She felt it would be reasonable to check the history classroom she was just in so she went there first only to see an unfamiliar teacher with an unfamiliar class, neither of which she had had ever met before. 

"Can I help you?" The new teacher said. 

"Sorry, wrong classroom." Aradia said awkwardly before immediately exiting the classroom and getting frustrated.  _  
_

     "Where is my backpack?" She said to herself silently before remembering she probably still had her phone. She took it out of her back pocket, it no longer being a red flip phone but a Blackberry Touch with a slide-out keyboard. She quickly opened Pesterchum. 

\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] \--  
AA: feferi are y0u there?  
CC: Yes I'm )(here.  
AA: where are y0u?  
CC: I'm by the cafeteria, I just finis)(ed lunc)(. W)(y?  
AA: n0thing i uh  
CC: Are you okay?  
AA: yeah im fine d0nt w0rry  
AA: i just wanted t0 hang 0ut!  
AA: im 0n my way there  
CC: Okay! 38D  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] \--

     Immediately Aradia put her phone away and began making her way down the halls toward the cafeteria. It was tough to get through the students that are everywhere and it made her wonder why the school staff made it okay to let students wander around during lunch. It really was such a hassle to get through but she supposed it was better them cramping them all up in one room where it was unbelievably loud. When she climbed down a staircase and reached the first floor the halls were noticeably less crowded so she had an easier time navigating the path. Eventually she made it out of the crowd of people and saw Feferi leaning against the wall next to the cafeteria door. At this moment Aradia immediately ran over to greet her. 

"Hey Feferi." She said, slightly out of breath from her nervousness. 

"Hey there you are!" Feferi responded enthusiastically, pulling Aradia into a tight hug. 

They stayed like that for a while before Aradia realized how tight her grip was and let go. 

"Where have you been?" Feferi asked. 

"Oh, I was in the bathroom." 

"For 20 minutes? What were doing in there for so long?" 

Aradia's face started to turn red in embarrassment. "I, uh..." She said awkwardly. "I had a long phone conversation with my dad. You know how talkative he can be." 

"Oh, right." Feferi nodded for squinting her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're about to cry." 

"I do?" She didn't even realized that until she heard her voice crack and felt a tear run down her cheek. 

Upon seeing this, Feferi pulled Aradia into a hug. "Aw, c'mere. What's wrong?" She said, patting her back. 

"Nothing, I just... I had a bad day today and I missed you." Was all Aradia could respond with before she decided her voice was too shaky to use. 

"Well I'm right here." Feferi said in a comforting voice before eventually pulling away from the hug and smiling down at her. "Now let's go talk about it somewhere in private. But first, you should fix your drippy eyeliner." She said before locking arms with Aradia and turning to start walking toward the bathroom. 

     As the two were about to pass the cafeteria double doors, another student walked through the doors. But just as the doors were slammed closed, a loud booming noise was produced and a bright light flashed before everything was dark again. Aradia quickly sat up in her dark bedroom, out of breath, and seemed to be in her apartment again. The sound of rain drops hitting the window and a few distant thunders were all that could be heard. A faint glow to her right made the only light in the room. When she turned her head, she saw Sollux lying in the bed next to her with his laptop on his lap. 

"Are you okay?" He said, staring at her with a look of surprise. "You just a had a nightmare." 

     Unsure of how to respond, she merely looked him up and down before she looked down at her own self. They weren't in school anymore; they were adults, just like she remembered, and they both lived together. She looked at the calendar hanging on the wall next to the bedroom door across from her side of the bed and saw that it was the date that she knew it was supposed to be. 

"...Yeah." She said as she caught her breath. "It was just a dream." 

She lied back down on her back and turned her head toward Sollux. "What time is it?" She asked. "And why is it so dark in here?"

He looked down at his laptop. "It's 9:38, you've been napping for a while." He said. "Also the power's out because of the storm." 

"How was work?" 

"It was alright I guess. We found a new lead for the case and it turns out that Vriska might actually be innocent." 

"Vriska? Innocent? That's surprising." Aradia remarked, earning a chuckle from Sollux. 

"Yeah, it is." He said. "What did you dream about? You look like you had a really shitty nap." 

Aradia stayed silent for a moment and turned onto her side so that she was facing Sollux, resting her head on her hand on her pillow. 

"It was really weird." She began. "I was back in school, in 9th grade. It felt like I travelled back in time. I saw Vriska and Tavros and... I saw Feferi. She was alive and happy and her usual jittery self. I talked to her for a bit when I suddenly fast forwarded to 11th and saw her again." 

"What did you do?" 

"We hugged. We were going to hang out but then I woke up." She continued. "I still miss her." 

Sollux waited a moment to say anything. "You know, she cared about you a lot." 

"I know." Aradia replied softly. 

"And wherever she is, I'm sure she's happy too." Sollux stated before closing his laptop and setting it on the end table at his bedside, allowing darkness to surround them. He lied down next to her, facing her. "She would want the same for you." 

Aradia took a moment to think. "The funny thing about my dream is..." she began. "the second part took place exactly a week before we first started dating." 

"December 9?" 

"Mhm." 

"That's today. Well not the same year, but our anniversary is coming up." 

"How are we going to celebrate that? That's on a work day and I know how stressful that case is for you. Not to mention I'm still hurt from that car accident."

"We could always wait until Christmas. And you can forget about buying me anything."

"But I already did."

Sollux raised his eyebrows. "You did?"

Aradia nodded. "The phone case I bought for you a month ago. I wanted to give you that when the time came."

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"No no, it's fine. I like the case." He said. "You know, I was talking to Kanaya not too long ago today. She and Rose are going to host a small Christmas party at their house. I thought the least I could do is take you and we could celebrate our anniversary then when things get better and Terezi's out of our hair. I also have that day off from work so it's a good opportunity."

Aradia began to smile. "Are you asking me on a date?" She asked.

Sollux couldn't help but to smile back at her, his cheeks turning red. "That depends," he said. "Do you want to go?"

"Of course I do, you doofus." Aradia said, shifting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her. The two proceeded to lie their in silence until they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I can't believe I finished a whole chapter this long in just two days. Did Pesterchum exist on flip phones back in 2008? I have no idea! Anyway, if you go to the bottom of the page, I added a link to all my humanstuck headcanons on the other End Notes that you probably see every chapter so you can just go to that so you know what the characters in this fanfic should look like.


	21. Search Warrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi and John investigate Eridan's whereabouts through Vriska and her house.

     Colder than the previous, the next day consisted of another search. It had been discovered that Eridan never boarded the plane to Scotland for which he purchased his ticket; the airport security tapes and check-out workers confirmed his absence. Because of this, it was believed that he was still in town. It was questionable whether he was able to get past the increased border patrol on the roads that lead out of the city however the possibility of him not having done so was still worth the consideration.

     This led to a more thorough search in his home, which had been completely abandoned by any residents since Feferi's death, but no conclusion was made from that. After Terezi successfully got a search warrant from a judge the next day, she and John proceeded to search Vriska's house together. When they entered the building, it was dark and messy. A few old food wrappers scattered the floor and the living room sofa, and two empty coffee mugs sat on the coffee table. The TV screen was covered in dust and the sofa cushions were dented.

"God this place smells horrible." John complained upon entering the scene.

"I can't believe you used to date the person who lives _here_." Terezi snickered.

"She wasn't this messy those years ago. I mean her room was but her sister usually cleaned up the house." He took another whiff of the room. "Damn, I can see why Aranea never her to be left alone."

"At least she doesn't mess around with a bunch of magic 8-balls anymore." Terezi scanned the floor. "I never understood why she found them so interesting."

John shrugged. "She's a mystery. ...How's she doing in the hospital?"

"She's fine. In pain but not dying." She replied.

"Well of course she'd be in pain, you shot her in the chest."

"She would have shot my friend, I wasn't going to just stand there and watch it happen."

"I know, I wasn't saying that was wrong of you to do--" Instantly John was cut off by the vibration of his phone, prompting him to take it out of his pocket. "Hold on."

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] \--  
TT: John are you at Vriska's home yet?  
EB: yes. it smells and looks like shit.  
TT: I know.  
EB: you've been here before?  
TT: No but knowing Vriska, a foul odor and a mess is to be expected.  
EB: jeez you don't like her either do you.  
TT: Not particularly. I find it hard to be incredibly fond of the person who has tried to steal my girlfriend from me before.  
EB: but that was years ago, we haven't seen Vriska since tenth grade.  
TT: Of course, but I don't like her attitude either. In fact I don't think anyone does.  
EB: well i can't say i blame you!  
TT: Anyhow, back to the crime scene.  
TT: Have you and Terezi made any discoveries yet?  
EB: no we just got here.  
EB: there's a lot of trash here for someone who lives alone though.  
TT: Perhaps she's going for the hoarder lifestyle.  
EB: no! i mean...  
EB: there are _two_ dents on the cushions of the sofa and _two_ empty mugs on the coffee table.  
EB: it looks like she had a visitor not too long ago.  
TT: A visitor? What a coincidence.  
EB: coincidence? what do you mean?  
TT: Yesterday Sollux and Terezi and I went to the airport to investigate Eridan's whereabouts and it turns out that he never boarded his flight to Scotland like we've been told.  
EB: who told you that?  
TT: Roxy. She's my sister and she and Eridan used to date, I had to believe her.  
EB: she and eridan? what the fuck?  
TT: Exactly. Anyway, it looks like she was lied to and Eridan could still be in town.  
TT: This gives us a better outlook for our investigation.  
EB: do you think eridan could be the one who was here in vriska's house?  
TT: Are you suggesting that Vriska may have been housing Eridan this whole time?  
EB: yes?  
TT: Damn it.  
EB: what?  
TT: I can't believe I missed this. Eridan and Vriska have been friends for a while and I never thought that they could still be in contact today.  
EB: it's not your fault, nobody else caught it.  
TT: I know it's not my fault, I'm just surprised.  
TT: I should go.  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] \--

"Who was that?" Terezi questioned as she walked out of the rooms down the hallway nearby. 

"It was Rose." John replied. "Listen, uh... did you notice anything weird about this place?" 

"Yeah. Vriska's dresser is half empty and so is her closet." 

"I think Eridan might have been staying here." 

"Shit." Terezi threw her hand upon her forehead. "If that's right then that means we wasted so much of our time not even bothering with him!" 

"He was missing and we thought he was on a family vacation for Thanksgiving, we're not to blame." 

"Still. We have to go back and talk to Vriska, we can't know for sure until we have a confession." 

"What if she doesn't confess?" 

"Oh she will, I can make her." 

     After taking a few more minutes to search the house, they left and got into their car to start their journey to the hospital. With the increasing levels of snow and ice, traffic on the roads had gotten slower so it took a bit longer to get there. Luckily the car had a heater and the two were wearing thick jackets so they didn't feel too cold as they waited. Eventually they made it to their destination and made their way through the hospital and into Vriska's room. 

"What do you two want?" She sneered, clearly unwelcoming. 

Terezi sat down on a chair beside the bed. "Well, Vriska, we searched your house. And we know you've been housing somebody." 

Vriska remained silent for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "Y-you were in my house??" 

"We have a search warrant if you want me to show you." 

"Don't even bother." 

"Good." Terezi cleared her throat. "Anyway, once you get out of here, you're going to be put in the slammer for attempted murder. But if all goes well in court, your sentence might actually be pretty short if you don't even go free at all." 

Vriska furrowed her brow. "...So?" 

"So," Terezi continued. "If you help us out with this little case, we could work out a deal to lessen your chances of going to jail. And if you want to help, you'll tell us who's been staying at your house." 

She looked to the side, then around the room.

"It's your choice." Terezi said.

Vriska cleared her throat. "Fine. I'll tell you."

Terezi smirked. "Good. Now who have you been keeping in your home?"

"Eridan." Vriska said hesitantly. "What are you gonna do to him?"

"Oh nothing really, or at least not yet. We can charge him for assault on a police officer," She said as she gestured to John who stood behind her. "But other than that we only need him for questioning."

Vriska didn't respond.

"So why were you housing Eridan?" Terezi continued.

"Because his girlfriend Feferi kicked him out." Vriska rolled her eyes. "He needed a place to stay, and came to me. I had no reason to say no." 

"Has he acted weirdly at all?" 

"Not really, he... actually, yeah. A few weeks ago he, came home in the morning angry, and had some neck pain. Ever since then he wouldn't tell me, what the fuck happened."

Terezi turned to look at John, who knowingly raised an eyebrow, and she turned back to look at Vriska. "When did you last see him?"

"Yesterday before I left the house, and got shot." She said with a bit of an attitude.

"Well," Terezi clasped her hands together and stood up. "That's all for now. We should get going now."

Vriska watched as she gathered her belongings and prepared to leave with John. "Wait." She said.

The two stopped. "What?" Terezi said.

"What do you need Eridan for? What do you think he did?"

Terezi and John have each other questioning looks, unsure of whether they should tell Vriska.

"Uhh..." Terezi said. "Feferi was killed a few weeks ago. We think Eridan murdered her before he drove off and shot John from his car and hit Aradia's."

"Wow..." Vriska said. "That's tough shit. Is that why Aradia was in crutches?"

Terezi nodded.

"...How is she?"

"That's a weird question to ask as someone who tried to shoot her."

"It wasn't personal," Vriska said defensively. "I was panicking!"

"Mhm."

Vriska sighed. "You know what, go ahead. Don't believe me. Just leave me alone."

Annoyed, Terezi shook her head and she left with John.


	22. Amazing Interrogation Skills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After taking another step forward to solve their case, Rose, Terezi, and John request Aradia's assistance for a task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, sorry for the huge delay! I was actually planning on finishing this entire work by Christmas but it seems I'm 4 months late and I still have many chapters left to go. And I got really distracted as, during the hiatus, I managed to get really into Undertale (which is a really good game you should totally check out, it was made by Toby Fox who made some great music for Homestuck!) so that kept me busy and unfortunately I completely forgot about this fanfic. But now that Homestuck is back, it seems I'm back to continuing the work! I hope this somewhat extra long chapter makes up for the unexpected delay you guy didn't deserve :0

"So tell me again why I'm needed for this?" Aradia asked with uncertainty as she sat in the front passenger seat with Terezi in her police car.

Terezi waited a moment before responding. "Because you have an important job to do to help us catch the criminal." She said, her mouth full of cherry-flavored chewing gum.

Aradia raised her eyebrow. "...Come again?"

"You have an important job to--"

"No no, I heard you. What I mean is, uh... first of all, I'm not a cop. I have no idea what I'm doing. Second of all, what do you mean 'the criminal'? I thought Vriska did all this."

"Surprisingly she didn't. Two days ago Rose told me that Vriska wasn't aware of your car accident so that means she didn't drive the car that left Feferi's house meaning she didn't kill her. Yesterday John and I went to question her ourselves and she told us that Eridan had been staying at her house ever since Feferi's death."

Aradia froze for a second. "What are you saying?"

"Eridan was probably the one who killed Feferi and hit you, Vriska wasn't involved and probably doesn't even have any idea what happened."

"So how exactly am I going to help you with this?"

"Don't worry, you don't have to shoot anyone or anything." Terezi shrugged. "John and Rose caught Eridan this morning after he failed an attempt to get past the officers patrolling the roads leading out of the city and now he's in our custody for questioning. That's where you come in."

Aradia furrowed her brow. "You want _me_ to question him?"

"Well, not exactly..." Terezi looked at the rear-view mirror for a moment. "You see, the thing is, he won't tell us anything about Feferi's murder. He's not denying anything but is refusing to answer our questions. Legally, we can't use physical force to force him to talk. So I thought that if you, an innocent and sad crippled girl who is grieving because of him, were to go in there and talk to him, it would guilt him into saying something."

"So you want to use my injuries to interrogate him."

Terezi nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Aradia thought for a moment and shrugged. "Well if it'll help you get justice for Feferi's murder then I'll do it."

"Great!" Terezi grinned excitedly. "Oh and one more thing. Sollux has no idea that this is happening and he'd kick my ass if he knew I'm getting you to do this so you might want to keep this whole thing on the down low."

"...You want me to lie to him?"

"Don't think of it as lying, just don't mention it. Besides, he can't just boss you around."

"I know, and I'm not letting him. It's just that he already worries about me, I don't want to make that worse for him by talking to a murderer behind his back."

Terezi sighed. "Come on, this could really be helpful. I'll take full responsibility once I tell him after it's over. Besides, it's not like he won't be restrained if he finds out what's going on while it's happening, I'll keep him from interrupting. We can tell him about it afterwards but he can't know while it's happening because he could just ruin it."

Aradia sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine! Didn't you and Eridan use to be friends in high school? He'll probably be more willing to talk to you since you're not someone he despises."

"Yeah, I guess. But we haven't actually talked in years, I doubt he still cares about me at all to this day."

"Well if hurting an old friend doesn't make him feel guilty then he probably doesn't have a heart."

"Exactly how am I supposed to guilt him into giving information?"

"I don't know, just act like you're in a lot of pain or something. Pretend to cough for practice."

Aradia waited a moment to wonder if she should actually do it before deciding she had nothing to lose from it. She coughed. "Ow."

"Good, the 'ow' at the end was very convincing." Terezi smiled.

Aradia held her breath for a moment and put her hand on her rib. "That was real."

"Even better!"

Aradia rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, when you're talking to him, I guess you could make your injuries as obvious to him as possible and keep talking about Feferi. Be dramatic too."

"I'll see what I can do."

     After ten minutes of driving, Terezi pulled into the parking lot in front of the police station. She and Aradia exited the vehicle and they made their way into the station. It wasn't as busy as it usually was so that was something that bored Terezi, but she didn't care as much since she already had something to do. She never really liked not doing anything so she always hoped some crime committed so that she had a case to work on. She led Aradia down a few halls before they came to an empty room that consisted of nothing but a one-way window and a door that led to another room along with the controls for an intercom on the wall. Seen through the window is Eridan, sitting at a table with his head down, in the middle of another small empty room. Aradia gave him a look of uncertainty before turning toward Terezi.

"Can he..." She started quietly.

"No." Terezi responded in her normally toned voice. "We can see him through this window but from his point of view the window is a mirror. And the room is soundproof so don't worry about him hearing us. I don't think he has any idea we're even in here."

Aradia was about to say something else when Rose entered the room. "I gave Sollux another--" She said before looking up and noticing Aradia who waved nervously. "Ah, look who accepted Terezi's ridiculous offer."

"Heh, yeah. I'm doing it for Feferi." Aradia scratched the back of her head, careful not to raise her elbow too high so that her crutch doesn't fall down from under her arm.

Rose nodded, cleared her throat, and looked at Terezi. "Well. As I was saying, I gave Sollux another job to do to stall for more time. Right now he's taking another look for more clues in Vriska's house with Karkat."

Terezi smirked. "Hopefully we have enough time to get Eridan to talk, then."

"I find that to be highly unlikely."

"Then why are you helping us?"

"Because it's better than not likely at all and John begged me to do so."

"John's in on this too?" Aradia interrupted.

"Yes." Rose looked at her. "He agreed to keep a look-out in case Sollux returns while we're still doing this. If he starts to get impatient, John will try to distract him to buy us as much more time as he can."

Aradia looked down. "I feel like I'm robbing a bank or something."

Rose looked at Terezi. "I apologize if Terezi here made you nervous." She said as she gave her a look of disappointment before turning back to Aradia. "But I can assure you this will all go smoothly as long as Sollux does not show up in the next hour."

"Let's just get this over with." Aradia sighed.

Rose nodded and headed toward the door. Terezi smiled. "Remember," she said, "make your injuries obvious. Unleash your inner innocent sad crippled girl."

     Aradia rolled her eyes. As soon Rose unlocked and opened the door, she went into the small room and the old smell of dust filled her nostrils. She could hear the door close behind her followed by a click and Eridan looked up at her. She gave a small nervous smile and waved at him briefly. Not showing any hint of interest, he returned to resting his head on his hand with his arm propped up on the interrogation table.

"What are _you_ doin' here?" He said without making eye contact.

Aradia turned her head to see if she could see Rose and Terezi watching them. All she could see was herself and the room she stood in.

"Uh..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm just here to talk."

"Yeah, no shit. Why else would you be in an interrogation room? To roleplay?" He sneered. "I know you were sent here to get a confession outta me. You can forget about it."

"I don't want to talk to you as an interrogator. I want to talk as old friends. It's been a while since we spoke."

He sighed, his breath reeking with irritation. "You're not gettin' the hint are you?"

"Just listen to what I have to say!" She said, louder than before. Then she sat down in the chair across from his side of the table. Eridan looked at her as if he had been slapped. "Look, I know you're not exactly in the best mood right now. I don't really want to be here either."

"Then why _are_ you here? You're not the one who was put in handcuffs and shoved into the back of a police car."

"I want to stop people from getting hurt." Eridan rolled his eyes but Aradia continued. "Surely you know about all the murders that have been happening over the past few months."

"Of course I know about 'em, they're still all over the news. What, you think I have something to do with that?"

"That's not what I'm trying to say."

"Yeah, sure." He shook his head before looking up at her and scanning her. "So what the fuck happened to you? You look like shit."

Aradia looked down at her casts and at her crutches which leaned by her side against the table. "I was in a car accident with two other cars. It was pretty bad, it put me in a coma for almost a week. The doctors said I should have died."

"Two cars? Jesus, who was the fucker who caused that?"

"Someone driving an expensive black car or something. They were speeding through an intersection and hit my car so that spun it around and then another car that was originally behind me in my lane hit me. The first driver got away but the second one died on impact, unfortunately."

Eridan remained silent and looked downward.

"The medical bills have been pretty stressful too." Aradia resumed. "But while I was still in my coma it was discovered that my car's airbags were faulty and didn't deploy so now apparently we're suing our dealership to cover the bills."

"And how's that going?"

"Well after getting an earful of yelling from Sollux, the company was kind enough to cooperate and compensate for all our damages without putting up a fight so that really helps. They agreed to pay for my medical bills, provide a free new car, and give a little extra money for the general trouble. I feel guilty taking it but they insisted. I can't tell if they're just that kind or don't want their company to look bad."

"Could be just because your freak of a boyfriend annoyed the living hell out a them."

"Anyway," Aradia sighed. "I was told that the first driver who hit me is likely to be the person who murdered Feferi. I already still miss her a lot, but hearing that I got hurt by the same person who hurt her just makes me feel worse."

After hearing a sniffle, Eridan looked up at her to see her rubbing one of her eyes and scowled. "...Are you cryin'?"

"I have a concussion," She said, her voice cracking. "It makes my emotions go off the charts sometimes. Just ignore that."

"Whatever you say." He said nonchalantly.

     As they watched from the other room, Rose and Terezi leaned against the wall across from the one-way window. Terezi was eating from a bag of cherry red Twizzlers and Rose had her cell phone in her hand. They'd been spending the whole time watching the interrogation(?) happen when Rose's phone sounded a notification tone and she opened Pesterchum to see a message from John.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--  
EB: rose we have a problem.  
TT: Let me guess. Sollux finished his investigation and returned to the station?  
EB: yeah. he heard from some random detectives that we caught eridan and now he wants to see him. and by that i mean kill.  
TT: Well that is unfortunate. Aradia is still talking to him. What have you told Sollux?  
EB: i told him that terezi is using her "amazing interrogation skills" and that it's important he doesn't interrupt her but he's not buying it.  
EB: he seems really pissed! what do i do?  
TT: Direct him to the interrogation room furthest from ours. I don't think we need that much time left.  
EB: ok i'll do that. let me know when you're done doing your things.  
TT: Will do. Good job.  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] \--

Rose sighed. "Sollux is in the building. John is distracting him right now but whatever Aradia is doing needs to be finished soon."

"Dammit." Terezi hissed. "Why the hell is he back so soon?!"

"Apparently some other detectives at the scene with him were gossiping and somehow one of them knows we have Eridan and Sollux heard about it. He knows Eridan is in this building and he's very insistent on finding him."

"Well fortunately it looks like she's finished." Terezi pointed out, gesturing toward the door which Aradia just came out of.

"I did all I could do." Aradia said. "Can I go now?"

"But he didn't even confess to anything." Terezi said.

"I know. Just give it time." She said.

"Terezi, Sollux is on his way here right now. Aradia has to leave _now_." Rose ordered.

Aradia raised her brows. "He's here?"

"ALRIGHT!" Terezi exclaimed, grabbing Aradia's arm. "Let's go, you." She opened the door and pulled Aradia out of the room in a hurry.

     Upon being left alone in the room, Rose went over to the controls near the door and window to the interrogation room and turned on the microphone. "Eridan Ampora, you may want to prepare to get an ass-kicking in the next few minutes." She said before turning the microphone back off. She looked through and smirked as she saw Eridan harshly dropped his head to the table with an obvious annoyed tone. Not much longer, Sollux bursted into the room.

"Why didn't you tell me you caught him this morning?!" He said, out of breath.

"Well hello to you too, Mr. Captor." Rose said as she crossed her arms. "We needed you to focus on your job and to let us focus on ours."

"Well yeah but..." He looked through the window at Eridan and then turned back to Rose. "Do you realize how important it is to me that I kick that guy's ass?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're acting like a child. Stop acting like one and start acting like a police officer because this is for the good of the community, not the pacification of your lifelong hatred."

Sollux sighed. "Whatever. Did he confess to anything?"

"No." Rose responded. "A-- Terezi, our amazing interrogator, did what she could and said to just give it time. She left shortly to get some other work done but for now we wait."

"And what exactly are we waiting for?"

She shrugged. "For Terezi's magic to work."

"That is really fucking stupid."

"Look, there's nothing you can do here. But if you think that you can somehow help more than Terezi already has, then be my guest." Rose gestured toward the door that led to the interrogation room.

"Alright." Sollux nodded before going over to the door. "I will."

     Watching him go into the other room, Rose took out her cellphone again. She hoped that Eridan wouldn't reveal Aradia's former presence in the room to Sollux but nevertheless still surprised that the plan worked out so well as far as they went with it. She left the room and went out into the hall and made a mental note to praise John for his help in buying them some time. Wondering where Terezi is, Rose decided to contact her on Pesterchum.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] \--  
TT: Terezi, where are you?  
GC: 1'M T4K1NG 4R4D14 HOME  
GC: 1S SOLLUX TH3R3?  
TT: Yes. I believe he is doing quite a bit of verbal damage to Eridan right now.  
GC: N1C3!  
TT: You two didn't run into Sollux on your way out did you?  
GC: FORTUN4T3LY NO, BUT W3 D1D S33 JOHN AND 1 TH1NK H3 4LMOST P1SS3D H1MS3LF  
TT: That's wonderful.  
TT: That was sarcasm by the way.  
GC: 1 KNOW  
GC: 1 SHOULD GO NOW THOUGH  
GC: BY T3XT1NG YOU B3H1ND TH3 WH33L 1'M NOT 3X4CTLY AB1D1NG BY TH3 L4W NOW 4M 1? >;]  
TT: You're right, you should go.  
TT: Please don't get anyone killed. I believe poor Aradia has already gone through enough.  
GC: YOU GOT 1T!  
\-- gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--


	23. Whiplash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a discussion of Eridan and Vriska's potential innocence, Sollux arrives with shocking news.

     The day after the interrogation of Eridan Ampora, Karkat had gone to the airport to meet with the security team and see if finding the date and time at which Eridan bought his plane ticket would help them with the cases. They were expected to be gone for a few hours since the drive to and from would take an hour and a half alone, so all that were left in the police department were Terezi along with Rose and John. Their shift having just started, the three sat in a conference room discussing all the information they had collected so far. They each had their jackets hung over the back of their respective chairs as the heater had been turned on in the rooms so nobody would get too cold; the snow outside had begun to fall quicker and layers of ice covered almost anything outside. The approaching snowstorm had slowed traffic even more as people took priority in driving slower to avoid accidents, so it took much longer for everyone to arrive to work in time for their shifts. Rose had a styrofoam cup full of steaming hot chocolate sitting on the table in front of her while the others had already had some. 

"Have any of you received any word from Sollux? He was supposed to arrive for his shift ten minutes ago." Rose asked, her hands folded together on the table. 

"He said he to run some errand or something before coming in." Terezi shrugged. "Maybe he's just stuck in traffic. You know how bad that storm is getting."

"Speaking of that storm," John spoke out. "are we getting any breaks soon? I dunno about you guys but I think it's bullshit that we still have to work even through dangerous weather conditions like this. Do you know how many car accidents there were this past week?" 

"People still commit crimes during weather like this, John. Think about the car accidents, hospitals need to stay open for them." Rose said. 

John crossed his arms frustratedly as he leaned back in his chair. 

Terezi waited a moment before speaking. "So I came here early today to check up on Eridan in the interrogation room and he finally confessed." 

Rose raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in her chair. "To what?" 

"To killing Feferi." Terezi responded. "He said he was angry about the way she treated him killed her on the morning Aradia got into the car accident. He said it was in the heat of the moment when they got into another argument. He also admitted to being the one who drove the car that hit Aradia and sped off, which makes sense because Vriska told me that while he stayed with her he had been having neck pains, which he could have gotten from a whiplash after crashing his car into Aradia's. Not to mention he admitted to being the one to kill that man we found near the playground whose watch had a smudged fingerprint. When I asked him about it, he said that he had no idea Aradia was in the car he hit and only sped off to avoid you two and the other cops who were chasing him. And when he lost you guys, he stopped by the playground in the hopes of disposing of his murder weapon but the guy we found dead was an innocent passerby who surprised him so Eridan ended up shooting him in the head to avoid being turned in. It was only after killing him that he stabbed him eight times. He said he only did that because he planned on framing our other killer for everything but decided last second not to because he thought the sudden break in method wouldn't be convincing enough. AND he said that he and Vriska used to break into people's homes to steal jewelry together to make some extra cash but that stopped before the chain of murders we've been investigating began, so it looks like Vriska isn't so innocent after all." 

"...That's impressive." Rose admired, having been writing down everything Terezi said onto a notepad with a ballpoint pen. 

"But just one thing about this is still a mystery." Terezi continued. "I asked him if he had anything to do with all those other murders where the victims were stabbed 8 times and he denied ever participating in those." 

John looked up. "...But he stabbed someone 8 times just like the killer we're after would do. Why would he expect us to believe he only participated in that killing but not the others?" 

"He's smart. He _knows_ we're not dumb enough to actually believe that, so the only reason he would even bother is if he were telling the truth."

John nodded. "I guess you're right." 

"Rose, didn't you tell me that Vriska said we've been looking in all the wrong places when you talked to her with Karkat and Sollux?" Terezi said. 

"Yes." Rose answered. 

"Well I think she might be right. Even though Eridan confessed to killing Feferi and the guy in the playground and hitting Aradia, he's denying participation in the whole murder chain we're trying to stop for a reason and Vriska only nearly shot Aradia because she panicked and she tried to get away because she didn't want to be convicted for a crime she supposedly didn't commit. There's no real physical evidence implying either of them actually killed all these people, so maybe she was right. Maybe we really have been looking in all the wrong places." Terezi explained. 

"You have a good point." Rose nodded. "But I still find it confusing that the victims were stabbed exactly 8 times. Maybe the real killer isn't Vriska but somebody who knew her. Maybe this person has a problem with her and is trying to frame her for all these crimes for revenge." 

"But who would that be?" John asked. 

"Good question. Vriska is a huge bitch, lots of people would have problems with her." 

Before anyone could respond to Terezi's remark, Sollux burst into the room through the door. "Hey, sorry I'm late." He said, out of breath. 

"Where the hell have you been?" Terezi said, looking up at him from her chair like everyone else in the room. 

"You missed some wonderful news. Although denying participation in the chain of murders, Eridan confessed to killing Feferi, hitting Aradia, and killing that man in the playground." Rose said as she ripped a sheet of paper from her notebook and handed it to Sollux. 

"What?? That FUCKER." He said as he took the paper and looked at the neat handwriting of everything Terezi had explained. 

"And you can thank Aradia for that." Terezi said, smiling proudly. 

"Wait," Sollux blurted out. "What????" 

John couldn't help but to smile at his confusion.

"Don't get mad at _her_. I made her do it so she could guilt the confession out of him and it worked a lot better than I thought it would. Rose was there too to watch, and we had John make sure you didn't come in in the middle of it and ruin everything, but I take full responsibility for everything."

Sollux was speechless and had a look of incredible confusion in his voice. "...Well the fact that you weren't left alone with her makes me feel _slightly_ better about the situation but I'll kick your asses later. I have news." 

"What news could possibly be more important than the kicking of Terezi's ass?" Rose asked sarcastically. 

"Okay so the reason I was gone was because I got a call from some random guy this morning saying he could help with the case. That's why I left home a bit earlier. Anyway, this guy claimed to have in his yard a private security camera overlooking the most frequently traveled street in the neighborhood all our murders have been concentrated on." 

"Please tell me you caught something." John whined. 

"Yeah, we did." Sollux said. He took a CD out of his pocket and showed it to everyone in the room. "He was generous enough to lend me the copies of all the security footage recorded by his camera and when I looked through it on my computer in my cruiser after I left his apartment, I saw that the same exact guy with a backpack was walking that street just before every single time a murder was committed and running back to where he came from just afterward." 

"So you think this guy could have been the one to kill those people?" Terezi asked with curiosity, completely interested. 

"Hell yes. And luckily the camera caught his face multiple times and we don't even need to run his face through the computers, I know who it is." 

"Who?" 

"Gamzee Makara." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, sorry for the huge delay. I lost a SHIT ton of motivation but I'm definitely still planning on finishing this fic even if it takes another year!


	24. Diversity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After discussing new information, Sollux shares it with Karkat and then goes with Rose to investigate the homes of Gamzee, Eridan, and Vriska. Meanwhile, John and Terezi are gone for the conduction of an interrogation.

"...Gamzee?" John said after a brief silence filled the room.

"That fucking asshole?!" Terezi exclaimed.

"Now now," Rose said in an attempt to calm the others. "We can't assume that he is the killer we have been searching for these past few months. Perhaps his frequent passage through the street is merely a coincidence."

"More like _overly_ frequent." Sollux responded. "And I doubt it would be a coincidence if he was near every single crime around the time they all happened. It would make sense if he's the killer, actually, he has a history of violence and assault and Vriska has a history of messing with his boyfriend so it's not surprising if he killed all those people and tried to frame it all on Vriska to get her in trouble as payback. Not to mention the chain of murders did stop after Gamzee was taken into police custody, shit I wonder why?"

Terezi felt a spike in her heart rate at the mention of violence and assault and promptly crossed her arms in frustration.

"We can question him fairly soon, after all, we do already have him in _our_ custody since I busted him for dealing narcotics." Rose pointed out. "Meanwhile, now that Eridan has given a confession, we officially have a reason to send him to prison on charges of one count of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, driving recklessly, failure to stop for a car accident, fleeing from police, and assault on an officer. As for Vriska, we should investigate her home again to see if what Eridan said about helping her steal jewelry in the past is true. If it is, she can go to prison for multiple counts of grand theft and those would be added to Eridan's charges."

"But what about when she almost shot Aradia?" Sollux asked impatiently.

"That's attempted murder, I heard the threat as I was approaching the scene." Terezi said. "Don't worry, we'll bust her for that too."

"Good." He replied before taking his phone out. "Karkat is still at the airport, I think I'll let him know about all this."

Terezi snickered. "How ironic is it that he's been freaking out about this case during the entire time we've been trying to solve and we actually find something important the one time he's actually not around?"

"Truly ironic." Rose said. She couldn't help but to smile a bit at the irony.

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--  
TA: kk are you there?  
TA: we found 2ome iimportant 2hiit back here at the 2tatiion.  
CG: YEAH I'M HERE. WHAT DID YOU FIND?  
TA: 2o terezii and ro2e had aradiia iinterrogate eriidan ye2terday and iit turn2 out he'2 the one who kiilled feferii, that guy at the playground, and cau2ed the car acciident that aradiia wa2 iin. he confe22ed two iit.  
CG: SHIT, REALLY?  
CG: THAT'S INCREDIBLE. HONESTLY I'M NOT SURPRISED IT WAS ERIDAN.  
TA: yeah neiither am ii, but now ii hate hiim wiith even more of my beiing whiich ii diidn't even thiink wa2 actually po22iible.  
CG: HOW'S TEREZI?  
TA: meh.  
TA: there'2 2omethiing el2e that ii found out 2o ii wouldn't 2ay 2he'2 doiing amaziingly now.  
CG: WHAT DID YOU FIND?  
TA: well on my way two work thii2 morniing 2ome guy reque2ted my help 2o ii went over two hii2 apartment and he has a priivate 2ecuriity camera overlookiing the most frequently traveled 2treet iin the neiighborhood our criime2 have been focu2ed iin.  
TA: he gave me a CD full of copiie2 of all the tape2 and when ii looked over them on my computer ii 2aw gamzee walkiing the 2treet iin a weiird-a22 hoodiie around the tiime2 every 2iingle criime wa2 commiited.  
TA: toward before, and from after.  
CG: HOLY FUCK.  
CG: YOU THINK HE'S THE KILLER WE'VE BEEN BUSTING OUR ASSES LOOKING FOR THIS WHOLE TIME?  
TA: yeah.  
TA: ii talked about iit two ro2e, terezii, and john ju2t a miinute ago.  
TA: iit would make 2en2e iif gamzee turn2 out to be the real kiiller. he ha2 a hii2tory of viiolence and a22ault, and vrii2ka ha2 a hii2tory of me22iing wiith hii2 boyfriiend 2o iif he diid kiill all tho2e people he triied two frame vrii2ka for iit two get her iin trouble as payback, hence the 8 2tabwound2 on every viictiim and the ab2ence of all theiir valuable belongiing2.  
CG: WOW. FOR ONCE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.  
CG: I EXPECTED ERIDAN AND VRISKA TO HAVE DONE ALL THIS BUT NEVER GAMZEE.  
TA: tru2t me, we're all ju2t a2 2urprii2ed a2 you are.  
CG: SO WHAT HAPPENS WITH ERIDAN AND VRISKA?  
TA: well eriidan al2o 2aiid that he and vrii2ka u2ed to 2teal jewelry from people before all the2e murder2 2tarted happeniing 2o there'2 that.  
TA: ii gue22 aradiia really diid a great fuckiing job guiiltiing hiim iintwo talkiing. god ii fuckiing love her.  
TA: but we 2tiill have two iinve2tiigate a biit more ju2t two make 2ure. iif iit turn2 out that everythiing he 2aiid ii2 riight...  
TA: he'll be goiing two prii2on on charge2 of one count of fiir2t-degree murder, 2econd-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, driiviing reckle22ly, faiilure two 2top for a car acciident, fleeiing from poliice, a22ault on an offiicer, and an unknown number of count2 of fiir2t-degree burglary.  
TA: tho2e are for murderiing feferii and that guy at the playground, the death of the driiver of the car that hiit aradiia'2 iin the car acciident he cau2ed, hii2 reckle22 driiviing that cau2ed that acciident, not 2toppiing for that acciident, 2hootiing john, and all tho2e theft2 of jewelry.  
TA: a2 for vrii2ka, 2he'd be goiing two priison on charge2 of an unknown number of count2 of grand theft ju2t liike eriidan and for attempted murder from when 2he triied two 2hoot aradiia.  
CG: DAMN. I'M IMPRESSED.  
CG: I JUST WISH I WERE THERE DURING THE ONE TIME WE ACTUALLY GET SOMETHING THIS IMPORTANT.  
TA: 2uck2 to 2uck.  
TA: 2o are you at the aiirport yet?  
CG: NO, THE TRAFFIC HERE IS TERRIBLE. AND I LEFT AROUND 10 MINUTES AGO, DUMBASS. OF COURSE I WOULDN'T BE THERE YET  
TA: ii know that, ii ju2t wanted two make you even more jealou2 that you're not here.  
CG: OH FUCK YOU!  
TA: ehehe wow, love you two.  
CG: OH MY GOD. I'M GOING TO PRETEND YOU DIDN'T JUST SAY THAT  
TA: good.  
TA: anyway ii 2hould go now. ii'll 2end you an emaiil later of all the detaiil2 iin ca2e ii mii22ed anythiing.  
CG: YEAH, YOU GO DO THAT.  
TA: 2ee you later.  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \--

     After putting his phone away, Sollux proceeded to prepare and send the email he mentioned to Karkat using the computer in his own office while Rose made investigation plans and discussed them with John and Terezi. John agreed to interrogate Gamzee while, to his surprise, Terezi volunteered to go too, and Rose and Sollux went out to investigate the homes of Gamzee, Vriska, and Feferi. Karkat continued driving to the airport to gather more information on Eridan. Since learning of Eridan's confessions, he felt there was no longer a point in doing what he set out to do but figured it was too late to go back so he decided to continue what he was going to. After all, he might as well have finished what he started, right?

     Upon entering Gamzee's apartment, the first thing Sollux and Rose noticed was the putrid odor that filled the entire rooms. They looked around to find a filthy litter box in one of the rooms of the apartment, noticed a few dirty and skinny cats sitting around in another room, and looked at the front door again to see a car door installed. They figured Gamzee had a small hobby of housing stray cats, which would explain the large bag of cat food in the kitchen. They were no longer surprised that the apartment smelled so badly upon considering that nobody had cleaned up the place ever since Gamzee was arrested.

"Helping strays? Doesn't exactly seem like something a typical murderer would do." Sollux said, gently kicking a few empty Chinese take-out boxes out of his way on the floor.

"Many murderers lead completely average lives outside of their murderous hobbies, Mr. Captor." Rose said.

"Why do you keep calling me that? I thought we were on a first name basis."

"We are. It's just the professional thing to do since we are at work at the time."

Sollux sighed before he startled himself by accidentally stepping on a resting cat and getting scratched on the leg. "Eugh," he said as he turned to an officer standing near the front door. "Get these things out of here." He said with irritation in his voice.

"I believe you mean _animals_ , not things." Roses criticized calmly as she kneeled down on the floor to scratch the chin of another stay cat that was sitting right there. That one seemed to be calmer than the rest, as it was purring rather than showing signs of aggression. Either that or cats just didn't like Sollux.

"Whatever." He replied. "They're getting in the way."

     As a few other officers spread out throughout the apartment to retrieve the cats and take them outside, Rose stood back up and headed for Gamzee's bedroom. She proceeded to search through his desk, his dresser, and his nightstand while Sollux opened the door to his closet to make a straight discovery.

"Rose?" He said, turning his head to face her for a moment before looking back into the closet. "I think I found all the evidence we need."

     Raising her brows, Rose stopped what she was doing to see what he had found and together they stood in front in the closet and stared at an old shopping bag filled with watches, jewelry, hats, and other things, as it hung by the handles on the rack that held the hung-up clothes.

"Huh. All these styles seem to be a little diverse for our culprit, would you agree?" Rose said, already knowing the answer she would get.

Sollux put on a pair of gloves and removed the bag of belongings from the rack. "Yep." He said as he stepped backward and held it up for both of them to examine. Some of the accessories had small blood stains on them. "Guess we'll just have to take these, then."

     After searching the apartment a little more, they took all that they found helpful and went to investigate Vriska's and Feferi's houses. Both Vriska and Eridan had saves in their bedrooms of their respective houses, each of which contained nothing but large stacks of cash. It became obvious that that money was made from selling the jewelry they had stolen, and so Sollux and Rose agreed to visit the many pawn shops in town to investigate what had been sold by Eridan and Vriska. But other than that, no evidence of previous murder had been discovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice, another new chapter in that same week. Just so you guys know, each chapter might be smaller now since I'm beginning to prioritize uploading SOMETHING over making sure every chapter meets a certain word count (3000) like I'd been doing before. I'm just trying to finish this thing off now, I'd say there are just a few chapters left to write, hopefully no more than 10.


	25. Sentence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the criminals were brought to justice, a large weight had been lifted off the shoulders of the town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you're not confused, this is all supposed to take place in the span of a single week! Not months or years, just a week.

     Sollux and Rose set out to visit all the pawn shops in town in an attempt to find any records of Eridan and Vriska having sold jewelry that they had stolen from people in the past. They asked managers and workers about any familiarity with the two criminals, and collected surveillance tapes for each and every shop that they investigated during the day. Of course they had promised to return the tapes once they finished their task, but those tapes were important at that very moment. They would reveal whether or not Eridan or Vriska had sold anything in any of the pawn shops from which the tapes were confiscated, and if anything was found, the jewelry could be tracked down and obtained so that they may be identified by people who had filed police reports as victims of theft. However it would most likely have taken around a week to get the job done, so the two did not expect to finish it all that day. Before the day would end, they remembered to look through Vriska's and Feferi's houses more thoroughly but failed to find anything new or useful so they stuck with investigating the pawn shops.

     Meanwhile, even though he initially wanted to finish the task he started, Karkat decided that visiting the airport to investigate whether or not Eridan boarded his flight to Scotland was no longer necessary since he got the news from Sollux that Eridan had already been captured and that he had confessed to killing two people and injuring two more. Karkat was still closer to the station than he was to the airport so he turned his car around to head back to the station.

     John and Terezi met up with Gamzee in an interrogation room and questioned him about the chain of murders that they had spent the past month or so investigating. At first, John had trouble getting some information out of him but Terezi used her bumpy history with Gamzee to an advantage.

     The two used to date in high school until Gamzee became abusive toward her, both verbally and physically. When she confronted him and ended their relationship one day, he beat her to the point where she was hospitalized, and her mother, a well-known and successful attorney, prosecuted Gamzee and had him sent to a juvenile correctional facility with a charge for assault. But even then, his wealthy family bailed him out so he didn't serve as much legal punishment as he was supposed to. Eventually he calmed down and had made multiple attempts to apologize for Terezi for what he had done, but she never forgave him.

     In the interrogation room, Terezi mentioned that she would consider forgiving him if he helped them out with the case. It was a complete lie and there was no chance of her ever forgiving him, but he believed it. John watched silently as Gamzee guiltily confessed to all of the murders that the police had been trying so hard to solve. He confessed that he purposely tried to make them look like Vriska'a doing so that she would get into trouble for it. He confessed to trying to frame it on her as payback for the way she had been treating Tavros. He claimed that if there was anything he wanted in exchange for his confession, it was Tavros's freedom from police investigation. He pleaded that Tavros was not involved whatsoever in the dealing of narcotics that had originally gotten Gamzee arrested in the first place, and that he wanted him to go free.

     John and Terezi gave each other awkward glances. Both of them had known Tavros for at least a few years, Terezi since elementary school and John since high school, but they still had trouble understanding what exactly Tavros saw in Gamzee that made him willing to commit to a romantic relationship with him. Yet instead of dwelling too much on it, they nodded and agreed to do what they could to prove Tavros innocent and let him free.

And so, he went free.

     Tavros was no longer a suspected accomplice of Gamzee's dealing of narcotics. He went back to live in Gamzee's apartment as he did before, and he cleaned it up. He called Aradia to help him get rid of the stray cats inside because he was allergic and couldn't touch them, so Aradia gladly collected them and released them outside even if it meant she risked being scratched or bitten. After she left, Tavros did feel guilty about leaving the cats outside where they'd be hungry so he purchased some cat food to leave outside for them. He may have been allergic but he was good with animals in general.

     After stolen jewelry was tracked down and returned to their rightful owners, Gamzee, Eridan, and Vriska were taken to court where they had all given their confessions to the crimes they had committed. Because they had each confessed, a defense was no longer necessary so the trial barely lasted.

     Gamzee was found guilty by the jury for the dealing of illegal narcotics and numerous counts of first-degree murder. He had been sentenced to life in maximum security prison with no chance of probation where he would have the attention of guards 24 hours per day for the rest of his life. He was, however, allowed visitation rights so Tavros planned on visiting him every weekend. Those visits weren't exactly going to be happy moments, though. Tavros had scolded Gamzee for going to such lengths for revenge and was severely upset with him so whether or not their relationship would actually last was uncertain for the time being. But other than Tavros, nobody wanted to visit Gamzee.

     Eridan was found guilty by the jury for one count of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, driving recklessly, failure to stop for a car accident, fleeing from police, assault on a police officer, and multiple counts of grand theft. He had been sentenced to 70 years in maximum security prison with no chance of probation. Unfortunately for him, he did not have a family who would have wanted to visit during him his time. However, Aradia did visit him on the first weekend and made plans to visit him regularly, although not very frequently. Perhaps once every two weeks. He very clearly expressed his grief and regret for killing Feferi, and Aradia never had the heart to hold a grudge toward anybody. She had a hard time forgiving Eridan for what he did but she did so anyway because what's done was done and she felt guilty leaving him alone after he took responsibility and confessed. Sollux made a vow never to visit him, but Rose did visit him once just to observe how things would go for him. And to Rose's surprise, Roxy, her sister, did make arrangements to visit Eridan every weekend to keep him company since they weren't on bad terms.

     Vriska was found guilty by the jury for multiple counts of grand theft and one count of attempted murder. She had been sentenced to 20 years in minimal security prison with a chance of probation, which she would begin to serve after she would be discharged from the hospital. Aradia had made arrangements to visit her every two weeks as well. One weekend for her, and one weekend for Eridan. It was going to be a pattern. Vriska had apologized to Aradia for what had happened, and Terezi agreed to visit Vriska with Aradia as well. Tavros didn't feel exactly comfortable visiting her for obvious reasons, so he didn't make plans to do so. However, there was no guarantee that Terezi and Aradia wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. The two wanted their original roleplay group from high school to receive some kind of happy ending after what had happened but they knew that would take time to actually achieve. John wanted to join in too so he was happily invited to go with Terezi and Aradia during visitations.

     Some time after Aradia's injuries had healed enough to let her walk on her own later in the week, the auto insurance company had gifted her a brand new car to keep as well as $25,000 to compensate for the troubles. Aradia no longer needed a rental car so she returned it and accepted the gift. Because the café in which she used to work ended up going out of business due to the economic troubles while she was still on paid leave to heal, she decided she wanted to use her compensation money to enroll in a university and pursue a degree in anthropology. Because she had received financial aid from the government which covered more than half of her tuition fees, there was more money left over for Sollux. He used that to enroll in a community college and take online classes to pursue a degree in game design and development. He planned on quitting his job as a police officer after graduating and finding a job in the field he wanted to get a college education for, while Aradia found two temporary part-time jobs at a local pawn shop and an antique store to earn more money until she and Sollux could get out of their financial crisis. The two agreed to start saving up for their own house so that they didn't have to worry about loud neighbors and so they could have some more living space.

     Terezi decided that she wanted to move out of the house she used to live with Karkat in, and to live on her own. She asked for a small loan from her mother and used it to rent an apartment near Sollux's and Aradia's apartment so she had a place to stay until she could buy her own actual house. While Sollux was glad to see Terezi leave his apartment, Aradia was a bit upset since she had gotten used to having a roommate. However, she did make plans to visit Terezi and hang out with her occasionally like old times. After all, they did live in the same building and their apartments were a short walking distance from each other.

     Rose and Kanaya continued to make progress with their wedding planner, Nepeta, when it came to planning their wedding. It was December and there were only two months left to their wedding. They decided to make their official wedding day on Valentine's Day, and made sure to invite all of their friends and family. They also continued to plan the Christmas party they wanted to host for all their friends on Christmas so Kanaya kept in touch with Karkat, Aradia, Terezi, Sollux, Tavros, Roxy, Jane, John, and more.

     After the chain of murders that had run rampant through neighborhoods in the town had stopped, and the jewelry Eridan and Vriska had stolen and sold were returned to their rightful owners, a large weight had been lifted and the people no longer had to worry about feeling unsafe while walking outside at night. Of course, this justice didn't stop every single criminal, but it was a great satisfaction to know that the town had become safer at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I know I haven't written anything for this in a LONG time, and I apologize for that. I began writing this chapter last night and finished it today. I'm planning on the next chapter being the very last and hopefully that will be posted by this Christmas (which I said last year and the year before that but I mean it this time). You can probably tell that I'm kind of rushing through this now just to get it finished, and you can't really blame me considering I've been working on this for, what, 2 years? Probably 2 years. But yeah, I'm really relieved to finally be almost done with this thing. This chapter seems a lot like an ending but this isn't the end so look out for one more chapter. After I finish this fanfic, I don't think I'm really planning on writing anymore so if you want to continue hearing from me, I have social media links on my profile. I'm an artist and I draw stuff so I'm still making some content, just probably not writing.


	26. Merry Christmas!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friends attend the Christmas party hosted at Kanaya and Rose's house.

     It was the night of Christmas, and everyone was at Rose and Kanaya's house for the Christmas party the two had decided to host. The house was large and in a peaceful gated neighborhood, among a circle of other houses surrounded a large lake that some families enjoyed to go swimming in during the summer. But since the lake froze from the chilly weather, it became a natural ice-skating rink during the winter. Each house had two floors and a swimming pool in the back porch, and the lights from the windows illuminated the neighborhood along with the street lights which had been decorated with colorful red, green, and golden colored garlands. Driving through the neighborhood during this night meant hearing different holiday-themed music or the enthusiastic cheers of families from each house along the streets.

     Rose and Kanaya's house, however, did not have many lights or much noise. Although the colorful Christmas lights lining the corners and columns of the exterior of the building kept the yard bright, the inside was somewhat dark and quiet aside from a dim light and audio from a large flat-screen TV. In the living room was a large sofa and two recliners on each side where the group of friends sat to watch various old TV shows revolving around Christmas. They had watched some classics and were about halfway through Christmas special of Drake & Josh for the sake of nostalgia. Aradia insisted they watch more modern Christmas-related shows but Karkat decided that they weren't anywhere as good as the older ones from the 90's and the early 2000's and nobody felt strongly about either opinion enough to argue.

     On the triple-seated sofa sat Aradia, Tavros, and Rose from left to right while Terezi lied horizontally on top of their laps. They were of course bothered, but Terezi wasn't very heavy so they didn't really feel very physically pained by her weight. Kanaya occupied the recliner next to Rose's side of the sofa and Jane and Roxy shared the recliner on the opposite side with cuddles. Karkat sat on the floor in between that recliner and coffee table, on which was a large plate of cookies and gingerbread of various flavors and styles, and on the opposite side sat Sollux. The only light in the room came from the TV and a distant Christmas tree which stood near the wall.

     Whenever the mean officer from the Christmas special they watched pulled any tricks, Karkat made a few jokes here and there about how he would have wanted to pull similar tricks in real life. Meanwhile, Roxy found a lot more humor than everyone else in the moments where Megan tricked him with a drone. Sollux didn't seem very fond of the movie but he surprisingly managed the survive the entire length of it without making complaints. After the movie finished, Terezi complained she was hungry and tried to get off of the sofa, accidentally kicking Rose in the jaw in the process.

"Terezi, you literally just ate half this plate of cookies ten minutes ago." Sollux complained.

"Yeah well I've got a big stomach and those cookies weren't very filling." Terezi replied.

"Ow, watch the leg." Aradia said when Terezi rised from the couch.

"Sorry."

Jane sighed. "Try not to expect me to bake more cookies, I've used all the dough I brought."

"Don't worry," Rose said as she got up and picked up the remote. "I'm sure she can survive with a stomach half full. Besides, we had a big dinner an hour ago. If she dies it's not our problem."

Terezi gasped with a feigned offense and was met by a grin from Rose. "Rude."

"So what else should we watch tonight before we open the gifts?"

Sollux got up. "Okay, no. I think I've watched enough bafoonery for the the night."

"Bafoonery?" Terezi complained. "I can't believe you just insulted Drake & Josh. That was my childhood!"

"Yeah well now your childhood is as dead as the guy who played Bludge." Sollux mocked.

Terezi's mouth fell open and the genuine offense was real. "He's dead?!"

Karkat and Roxy couldn't help but to start snickering at Sollux's comeback.

Kanaya stood up and lowered the foot rest of her recliner. "Now now, let's not make fun of a poor man's demise. This is Christmas and it's a time to be happy."

Terezi walked over to Sollux and punched his arm as she walked into the kitchen. "Hey," Sollux shouted to her. "I can arrest your ass for assault!"

Terezi stuck her tongue out at him before she opened to fridge to look for a can of soda and Sollux smirked and turned back toward the group. Kanaya walked up with intentions of joining Terezi in the kitchen, but on her way there, she briefly stopped next to Sollux.

"If your plan that we discussed is still going to happen," she whispered to him quietly, "I advise that you do it soon."

     Sollux's smirk faded away as he watched Kanaya go into the kitchen and his heart rate began to rise. Jane got up off the recliner she shared with Roxy to turn on the lights in the room so that it wasn't so dark anymore, and Roxy walked over to confirm with Rose that there was no alcohol in the kitchen. Although Roxy had successfully been rid of her old alcoholism for about a year, she still felt slight temptations when she would see or hear about it so she had been trying her best to avoid it. Rose was supportive of Roxy and confirmed that any signs of alcohol had been removed a while ago so there was nothing to worry about.

     When the group soon decided it was time to open gifts, they gathered around the Christmas tree to look through the wrapped presents they each had left upon their arrival to the party a few hours ago. Kanaya passed around the gifts to their respectful intended recipients to make sure there wasn't any chaos to happen from the crowding. The next few minutes had been spent unwrapping gifts and opening boxes, ripped up wrapping paper of various colors scattered all over the surrounding carpet. People had been thanking each other, hugging, sharing, trying things out, and enthusing about their new possessions. Sollux took his phone out of his pocket, and walked up to Aradia with it.

"So, uh, I guess I should pretend to be surprised by this phone case now." He said, showing her the black and yellow case she had bought him a while ago.

Aradia smiled at him and shrugged. "Well, it is a gift after all."

"Yeah......." Sollux just stood there for a few seconds. "I have no idea how to act surprised."

"Yeah, you were never a very good actor." Aradia remarked before kissing him on the cheek. "But, you're very welcome for your gift."

"I want to give you yours now, but you'll have to come outside. I was originally going to do this on our anniversary."

"Really? What did you get me?"

"Just come with me." Sollux grabbed her hand and led her outside to the back porch through the sliding glass door, Kanaya giving the two a knowing grin as they left.

     Rose noticed and asked her what was happening, but Kanaya brushed it off and assured Rose that she'd know when the time came. The porch outside was illuminated by a vast variety of different-colored Christmas lights, reflections of which glistened along the surface of the swimming pool. The concrete was surrounded by a closed net that protected the entire area from insects and falling snow. It was quiet outside for a few seconds before someone inside turned on a radio and some muffled Christmas music began to play. This wasn't an issue, though.

Aradia looked around once Sollux let go of her hand, and she didn't notice anything special. "So where's the gift? I don't see anything."

"Sit down." Sollux replied as he gestured to a nearby bench and sat on it.

Aradia joined him and said, "Well this is mysterious." before she waited for an explanation.

Sollux took a breathe and looked at her. "Well, um... I just want to ask you something."

Aradia raised her eyebrows. "What is it?"

"First, I have something to say. I, uh, I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore." He said as he reached into his pocket.

Aradia's curious smile faded away. "...Wait, what?" She watched as Sollux struggled to pull something out.

Sollux suddenly felt like he was going to panic.

"You're breaking up with me?" Aradia asked.

"No! Fuck. That's not what I meant, wait a minute." Aradia watched with frustration as he continued to struggle.

Well that was awkward.

"Okay." Sollux said when he finally pulled from his pocket a small black box with a red ribbon taped on the top.

Aradia looked down at it. Her frown faded but she didn't exactly smile either. She looked up at him.

"I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore." He repeated. He opened the box and showed her a small ring inside. "I want you to be my wife instead."

When Aradia looked down at it, her mouth fell open and she covered it with her gloved hand. Sollux felt like he was going to have a heart attack and die.

"Look, I'm really bad with words so this probably won't come out sounding as meaningful as I intend it to be, but..." Sollux began, "you're a lot more important to me than you think you are. From the day we first met in elementary school, to now, and that'll go on. I haven't shown my appreciation for you much but you've made my life a lot better than anybody could have made it and I want to spend the rest of it with you. I want to wake up next to you every morning and there's nothing I want more than to be able to refer to you as my wife. I don't want a huge party, I don't want an expensive suit or an expensive dress, I don't want a priest or a venue. I just want you and only you."

The whole time Sollux spoke, Aradia was smiling and she wasn't sure whether she was laughing or crying. Both? Nobody really knew.

"So my gift to you is this proposal." He continued. "I want you to marry me and I want us to start a new life together in a new house once we get out of our financial shit hole."

"...Oh, my God." Aradia said slowly. She removed her hand and grabbed the ring with a wide smile spread across her face. She looked at it from every angle there was, and couldn't think of any words to put together. After inspecting the ring, she put it on her finger before she looked up at Sollux and nodded.

"Yes. I'll stop being your girlfriend." She said as she broke into laughter.

     Sollux knew instantly what that meant and the two hugged tightly as the muffled Christmas music from inside began to play. They shared a few kisses and then went inside when they began to feel too cold to stay out much longer.

     When the two returned inside the house, the group of friends shared one more hour of talking and eating snacks together before they agreed to sleep over for the night. It was a last minute decision and nobody came prepared with pajamas but they managed. Some took the sofa and recliners while others spread blankets across the floor and slept on those. There was a large pile of dirty dishes left in the sink in the kitchen that nobody bothered to wash. It was put off until morning. The light of the Christmas tree was turned off and everyone went to sleep.   


After that, the new year came and everyone celebrated a safer environment.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, looks like I finally finished with this! I was supposed to finish it two years ago but I guess I procrastinated too much to make it to Christmas but I finally made it. I hope you all enjoyed this work and thanks for sticking around! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Yes hello, this is my first fan fiction so please don't judge me so strictly! Also, this is Humanstuck, so all trolls here are human and so are their cultures and customs and everything! I hope you enjoy! :3
> 
> HUMANSTUCK HEADCANONS: http://aradiiaa.tumblr.com/humanstuck-hc


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